Overview
J2a-Y19088 represents a downstream lineage of the J2a-M67 complex and is associated with populations living across the eastern Anatolian highlands, the Armenian plateau and the northern Mesopotamian uplands. Its early emergence aligns with the formation of upland agricultural systems during the Holocene, when settlements in the Lake Van, Upper Euphrates and Upper Tigris basins developed early metalworking, terrace-based agriculture and regionally integrated exchange networks. These upland societies maintained deep cultural continuity, with archaeological signatures such as fortified hilltop villages, obsidian trade routes and mountain corridor mobility that linked highland and lowland populations. Throughout the Bronze and Iron Ages, Y19088-bearing groups appear to have participated in the long-standing highland sociopolitical structures that shaped the interaction between the Armenian plateau, the Zagros foothills and northern Mesopotamia. The phylogenetic structure of the lineage indicates repeated localized founder effects tied to enclosed valleys and mountain basins, characteristic of highland demographic patterns. Classical and early medieval populations from eastern Anatolia, Armenia and northern Mesopotamia retain lineages compatible with Y19088, indicating a deep historical presence in upland agro-pastoral communities.