Overview
J2b-Y14924 is a downstream branch of J2b-M241 and is associated with the southern Balkans, western Anatolia and the eastern Aegean corridor. Its early formation corresponds to the expansions of middle Holocene agricultural populations that moved through the Balkan interior and along the Aegean coastline. Archaeological settings consistent with this lineage include late Neolithic farming villages, early Chalcolithic coastal settlements and sites showing increasing interconnection between Greece, Anatolia and the Levant. During the Bronze Age, Y14924 bearing groups participated in population movements linked to Mycenaean expansion, Anatolian coastal networks and interactions centered around the Aegean basin. Its downstream diversification mirrors demographic pulses connected to Bronze and Iron Age transformations in the Aegean and southern Balkans.
Geographic distribution
Highest modern frequencies appear in Greece, Albania, North Macedonia and western Turkey. Moderate levels occur in Cyprus, the Levant and southern Italy. Lower frequencies in the Adriatic and central Mediterranean indicate secondary diffusion events connected to Aegean centered cultural expansions.
Ancient DNA
- Neolithic Balkan individuals show J2b patterns compatible with early Y14924 diversification.
- Aegean Bronze Age remains include J2b structures that overlap with upstream portions of this lineage.
- Early coastal Anatolian burials show paternal signals matching Y14924 derived lines.
- Bronze Age Levantine individuals include J2b variants aligned with downstream Y14924.
- Classical and early medieval remains from the Aegean and Balkans show continuity with this clade.
Phylogeny & subclades
Y14924 contains several Balkan and Aegean centered subbranches, with additional lines extending into Anatolia and the Levant. The phylogeny reflects a combination of coastal mobility and inland valley expansions.
- Y14924* basal Balkan form
- Aegean coastal microbranches
- Western Anatolian downstream lines
- Levantine derived variants
Notes & context
J2b-Y14924 provides insight into demographic interactions linking the Balkans, western Anatolia and eastern Mediterranean worlds across the Neolithic to classical periods.
References & external links