Overview
J2b-Z42166 is a downstream Balkan-Aegean lineage of J2b-M241, originating during the later Neolithic or early Chalcolithic phases in southeastern Europe. Early carriers of the lineage likely participated in coastal and riverine settlement systems that characterized the Adriatic, Ionian and Aegean zones during the transition to more complex farming communities.
During the Bronze Age, Z42166-bearing groups contributed to demographic processes associated with Aegean maritime cultures, Mycenaean expansion and Balkan-Anatolian connectivity. Its downstream differentiation indicates founder effects in Aegean island populations, southern Balkan lowlands and coastal Anatolia. Iron Age and classical populations in Greece and the southern Balkans show continuity with these derivatives.
Geographic distribution
Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, western Turkey; minor presence in coastal Italy, Montenegro and Cyprus.
Ancient DNA
- Balkan Neolithic individuals carry upstream J2b-M241 signals compatible with ancestral Z42166.
- Aegean Bronze Age populations exhibit J2b variation tied to this branch.
- Western Anatolian Bronze Age burials preserve upstream components associated with the lineage.
- Iron Age southern Balkan sites show downstream Z42166 occurrences.
- Classical era coastal populations maintain microbranch continuity.
Phylogeny & subclades
A coastal and river-valley J2b-M241 branch with substructure linking southern Balkans, Aegean islands and western Anatolia.
- Z42166*
- Aegean island microbranches
- Southern Balkan derivatives
Notes & context
Z42166 is significant for reconstructing Aegean-Balkan connectivity during the Bronze and Iron Ages.
References & external links