Overview
J2b-Z42351 is a southern Balkan and Aegean-oriented lineage of the J2b-M241 radiation, with an early formation linked to late Neolithic and Chalcolithic settlement systems in the southeastern European littoral. Its earliest demographic expansions were tied to populations inhabiting the Adriatic, Ionian and Aegean coasts, where maritime exchange networks and river-valley agricultural systems played a central role.
During the Bronze Age, Z42351 shows strong associations with Aegean maritime cultures, Mycenaean polities and western Anatolian proto-urban centers. Downstream diversification includes founder effects in Aegean islands, southern Balkan lowlands and Anatolian coastal regions. Iron Age and classical period communities in Greece, Thrace and western Anatolia preserve descendant branches, reflecting long-term demographic and cultural continuity within the broader Aegean interaction sphere.
Geographic distribution
Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, western Turkey; minor presence in Italy, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Cyprus.
Ancient DNA
- Balkan Neolithic genomes include upstream J2b signals consistent with early Z42351 ancestry.
- Mycenaean and Aegean Bronze Age samples display J2b-M241 lineages compatible with this branch.
- Western Anatolian Bronze Age burials exhibit upstream markers linked to the clade.
- Iron Age southern Balkan settlements preserve derived Z42351 components.
- Classical coastal Greek and Anatolian populations show continuity with microbranches of the lineage.
Phylogeny & subclades
A coastal and inland-valley oriented J2b-M241 subclade with diversification across the Aegean, southern Balkans and western Anatolia.
- Z42351*
- Aegean island microbranches
- Balkan-Anatolian derivatives
Notes & context
Z42351 illuminates maritime and coastal demographic patterns in the Aegean and southern Balkans during the Bronze and Iron Ages.
References & external links