Overview
J2a-Y18655 is a downstream highland lineage under J2a-M67 with a demographic focus in the Armenian plateau, eastern Anatolia and adjacent Upper Tigris upland systems. Its earliest diversification corresponds to middle Holocene upland agricultural communities who developed stable settlement clusters tied to obsidian circulation and early metallurgy. Archaeological contexts linked to this period include fortified Chalcolithic sites, upland terrace agriculture and long-distance pastoral mobility.
During the Bronze Age, Y18655 bearing groups were part of the demographic networks connected to the Kura Araxes horizon and later Bronze Age expansions in highland environments. The lineage’s downstream segmentation suggests continuity through Iron Age political structures and into classical upland communities where localized founder effects maintained its regional concentration.
Geographic distribution
Primary presence in Armenia, eastern Turkey and northwest Iran; moderate in northern Iraq and Georgia; low in central Anatolia and the Levant.
Ancient DNA
- Bronze Age Armenian plateau samples show upstream signatures compatible with Y18655.
- Chalcolithic Upper Tigris individuals include ancestral J2a lineages tied to early phases of the clade.
- Eastern Anatolian Bronze Age contexts preserve markers consistent with Y18655.
- Iron Age highland sites reveal downstream diversification within the lineage.
- Classical plateau settlements maintain continuity with Y18655 derived forms.
Phylogeny & subclades
A highland rooted J2a-M67 branch with tightly clustered microclades across the eastern Anatolian and Armenian uplands.
- Y18655*
- Armenian plateau branches
- Upper Tigris derivatives
Notes & context
A representative upland lineage illustrating long-term demographic stability in eastern Anatolia and the Armenian highlands.
References & external links