Overview
J2b-Y17255 is a downstream branch of J2b-M241 with a demographic axis spanning the southern Balkans, coastal Greece and western Anatolia. Its formation corresponds to expansions of middle Holocene farming communities that moved across the Balkan interior and the Aegean coastline. Archaeogenetic patterns suggest ties to early Neolithic and Chalcolithic settlement clusters in Greece, Albania and western Turkey. During the Bronze Age, Y17255 bearing groups were likely part of cross regional interaction webs linking the Mycenaean sphere, the eastern Adriatic and the Anatolian coastal regions. Diversification within this lineage corresponds to demographic pulses associated with Mycenaean expansion, post palatial realignments and early Iron Age migrations in the Aegean world.
Geographic distribution
Highest modern frequencies appear in Greece, Albania and coastal Turkey. Moderate levels occur in North Macedonia, Cyprus and the Levant. Lower frequencies across Italy and the Adriatic represent secondary expansions tied to maritime mobility and classical period trade.
Ancient DNA
- Neolithic southern Balkan remains show J2b lineages consistent with ancestral Y17255.
- Aegean Bronze Age individuals include J2b signatures aligned with upstream Y17255 structure.
- Early western Anatolian Bronze Age burials present paternal profiles that match Y17255 diversification.
- Bronze and Iron Age Levantine samples include J2b variants overlapping with downstream Y17255.
- Classical era Greek and Aegean sites show continuity with Y17255 bearing lineages.
Phylogeny & subclades
Y17255 contains several Balkan centered subbranches with additional lines extending into the Aegean and western Anatolia. The phylogeny indicates coastal mobility and founder effects associated with Bronze Age Aegean populations.
- Y17255* basal Balkan form
- Aegean coastal microbranches
- Western Anatolian downstream lines
- Levantine derived variants
Notes & context
J2b-Y17255 provides insight into Aegean and Balkan demographic dynamics from the Neolithic through the classical periods.
References & external links