Overview
J2a-Y18380 is a downstream lineage of J2a-M67 with a demographic core rooted in the Armenian highlands, eastern Anatolia and the Upper Tigris basin. Its early diversification corresponds to middle Holocene agro pastoral expansions in upland settings characterized by long-term settlement continuity, early metallurgy and obsidian-linked exchange routes. Archaeological landscapes associated with these early populations include hilltop fortifications, upland agricultural terraces and complex pastoral systems.
By the Bronze Age, Y18380 bearing groups were active participants in highland cultural systems tied to the Kura Araxes expansion and subsequent regional Bronze Age formations. The persistence of the lineage in upland environments, with only limited expansion into adjacent lowland regions, reflects a pattern of demographic stability across multiple cultural horizons including the Iron Age and classical periods.
Geographic distribution
Highest frequencies in Armenia, eastern Turkey and northwest Iran; moderate in northern Iraq and Georgia; low in the Levant and central Anatolia.
Ancient DNA
- Armenian Bronze Age individuals show upstream J2a structures connected to early Y18380.
- Chalcolithic Upper Tigris burials contain markers compatible with ancestral components of the clade.
- Bronze Age eastern Anatolian individuals show continuity with Y18380 related lineages.
- Iron Age highland samples include derived branches of the clade.
- Classical upland populations maintain continuity with Y18380 microclades.
Phylogeny & subclades
A highland rooted J2a-M67 branch with microclades distributed across Armenian plateau and eastern Anatolian uplands.
- Y18380*
- Armenian plateau branches
- Upper Tigris derivatives
Notes & context
A stable highland lineage illuminating long-term demographic continuity across eastern Anatolia and the Armenian plateau.
References & external links