A · BT · CT · F · K · K2 · K2b · NO · N · N1 · N1a · N1a1 · N1a1a · N-Z1936 · N-Z1927 · N-Z1933 · N-VL62 · N-Y9022 · N-BY16960
N-BY16960 (Early VL62 > Y9022 branch)
N-BY16960 is a downstream subclade of N-Y9022, representing an early Finnic lineage that split before the explosive Z1939 expansions. Its position indicates that BY16960 formed within the early Finnic populations of the eastern Baltic and Karelia regions, preserving a branch of paternal diversity distinct from the later medieval clusters. Unlike some younger clades, BY16960 did not undergo heavy population-specific bottlenecks and thus reflects an older demographic layer.
Present-day occurrences of N-BY16960 are scattered across Finland, Karelia and the White Sea basin. Unlike Z1939-derived microclades, BY16960 has a wider but lower-density distribution. It is found both in the southeast Finnish–Karelian corridor and in central/northern Finnish regions, indicating long-range movements during early Finnic population dispersal.
In current YFull trees, BY16960 sits under Y9022 with several identifiable microbranches. The presence of multiple sibling branches indicates a lineage that maintained moderate diversity rather than collapsing into a narrow bottleneck. Its phylogenetic placement provides contrast to the strongly expanding Z1939 → Y7308/Y7310 lines.
N-BY16960 is critical for illustrating that not all Finnic paternal ancestry belongs to the large medieval founder events. It represents a more ancient, less bottlenecked component of the VL62 backbone.