Overview
J2b-Z40472 is a downstream lineage of J2b-M241 with a demographic center spanning the southern Balkans, western Anatolia and the Aegean coastal zone. Its formation corresponds to the movement of early agricultural groups through the Balkan interior during the mid Holocene and the subsequent emergence of maritime cultural networks in the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age Aegean.
During the Bronze Age, Z40472-bearing populations interacted with Mycenaean expansion zones, Aegean coastal centers and western Anatolian proto-urban settlements. Its downstream structure displays multiple Aegean-centered founder effects, reflecting both maritime and inland demographic processes. Classical and Hellenistic populations in coastal Greece also show continuity with this clade.
Geographic distribution
Greece, Albania, Macedonia, western Turkey; moderate in Bulgaria, Cyprus and the Adriatic; lower in Italy and the Levant.
Ancient DNA
- Balkan Chalcolithic individuals carry early J2b variants compatible with Z40472.
- Aegean Bronze Age individuals exhibit upstream J2b structures aligned with this lineage.
- Western Anatolian Bronze Age populations show continuity with Z40472-bearing groups.
- Iron Age Levantine individuals contain downstream signatures of this clade.
- Classical Greek coastal settlements maintain derived Z40472 lineages.
Phylogeny & subclades
A structured coastal and inland Balkan-Aegean branch within J2b-M241, with multiple microclades tied to maritime and upland mobility.
- Z40472*
- Aegean coastal clusters
- Western Anatolian derivatives
Notes & context
An important lineage for reconstructing Bronze Age and Iron Age demographic interactions across the Aegean and southern Balkans.
References & external links