Overview
J2a-Y19244 is a downstream lineage emerging from the J2a-M67 highland-centered cluster, with strong demographic associations across eastern Anatolia, the Armenian plateau and the northern Zagros interface. Its earliest diversification aligns with the rise of permanent upland agricultural systems in the Holocene, where fortified hilltop settlements, terraced farming and obsidian exchange formed the economic backbone of upland communities. Archaeological parallels include highland metallurgical centers, agro-pastoral settlements in mountain basins and long-distance obsidian networks linking the Lake Van region to the northern Levant. During the Bronze Age, Y19244-bearing populations were integrated into highland political structures characterized by citadel networks, early state formations and mountain corridor mobility. Its phylogenetic structure suggests repeated microregional founder events within enclosed valleys and plateau-edge communities. Iron Age and classical genetic signatures from Armenia, eastern Turkey and northern Mesopotamia show patterns aligned with expected derivatives of this lineage, reflecting long-standing upland demographic continuity.