Overview
J2b-Z43415 is a downstream lineage of the J2b-M241 radiation associated with the demographic history of the southern Balkans, the Aegean maritime world and coastal western Anatolia. Its early formation aligns with late Neolithic and Chalcolithic communities that combined river-valley cultivation with island-to-mainland maritime networks. These populations were instrumental in shaping ceramic traditions, early metallurgy and coastal exchange systems across southeastern Europe and Anatolia. By the Bronze Age, Z43415-bearing groups likely contributed to the maritime landscape of Mycenaean-influenced coastal sites, Aegean islands and western Anatolian cultural zones. The phylogenetic structure indicates founder events connected to Aegean islands, southern Balkan plains and western Anatolian littoral regions. Iron Age and classical DNA from the Aegean and southern Balkans continues to reflect J2b signatures consistent with the geographic pattern of Z43415, suggesting a durable paternal presence throughout the maritime interaction sphere.