Overview
J2b-Y22319 is a downstream branch of J2b-M241 with a demographic focus spanning the southern Balkans, coastal Greece, the Aegean islands and western Anatolia. Its early development corresponds to the spread of mid Holocene Balkan agricultural populations and the emergence of Aegean maritime networks that connected mainland settlements with island communities. Archaeological parallels include late Neolithic Balkan villages, early Aegean island settlements and Bronze Age coastal centers.
By the Bronze Age, Y22319 bearing groups were likely embedded in population systems tied to Mycenaean mobility, Adriatic Aegean trade routes and the rise of coastal Anatolian towns. Downstream segmentation indicates strong coastal founder effects, later preserved in Iron Age and classical Greek populations.
Geographic distribution
Most common in Greece and Albania; moderate in western Turkey, Bulgaria, Cyprus and North Macedonia; low in southern Italy and the Levant.
Ancient DNA
- Neolithic Balkan samples include J2b markers consistent with early Y22319.
- Aegean Bronze Age burials preserve upstream signatures aligned with the clade.
- Western Anatolian Bronze Age individuals show J2b components compatible with Y22319.
- Iron Age Levantine sites contain downstream derived markers.
- Classical Greek urban centers maintain multiple Y22319 microlineages.
Phylogeny & subclades
A coastal and Aegean linked J2b branch with several microclades shaped by maritime mobility and regional founder events.
- Y22319*
- Aegean coastal branches
- Western Anatolian derivatives
Notes & context
A significant J2b lineage marking demographic connectivity between the Balkans, Aegean and Anatolia during the Bronze and classical eras.
References & external links