Overview
Haplogroup N-L708 is one of the oldest and most defining branches of the N1 lineage and represents a key ancestral root from which the majority of later N lineages descend. It sits upstream of the extremely widespread N-L392 > N-L1026 > N-M178 radiation and therefore functions as a basal node linking ancient Siberian forager populations with the Holocene expansions of Uralic-speaking groups. Genetic evidence shows L708 formed during the Late Pleistocene, likely within populations living across the East Siberian taiga, where small mobile groups navigated river systems such as the Lena, Aldan and Yenisei. Over thousands of years, descendants of L708 would give rise to the dominant branches of N found today across Finland, the Baltics, Volga-Ural region and northern Asia.
Geographic distribution
Modern carriers of N-L708 are rare because most descendance flows through its major child clades. However, basal L708* and early offshoots appear in Siberia, among populations such as Evenks, Yakuts, northern Russians and isolated communities in the Transbaikal region. Occasional occurrences in Central Asia and Mongolia likely reflect ancient movements along northeastern steppe corridors. Its broad but low-frequency distribution aligns with an ancestral lineage that experienced long-term survival in small forager–hunter groups before exploding into larger populations during the Holocene.
Ancient DNA
- Upstream N1 lineages consistent with L708 ancestry appear in ancient genomes from the Baikal–Angara–Lena cultural sphere dating to the Pleistocene–Holocene transition.
- Mesolithic hunter-fisher individuals from eastern Siberia show N1 signatures near the basal nodes associated with L708.
- Comparative phylogenetic models of Uralic paternal origins consistently trace the trunk of the N1a1a-M178 expansion through the deeper L708 root.
Phylogeny & subclades
N-L708 is positioned upstream of N-L392 and N-L1026. The L708 mutation defines the ancestral root of N1a1, making it a pivotal branch in the formation of nearly every major N lineage found in Uralic and northern Eurasiatic populations. In modern YFull and FTDNA trees, L708 forms the deep core of N1, from which several minor but ancient microbranches and the major L392 > L1026 trunk descend.
- N-L708* (basal Siberian and Far Eastern lineages)
- N-L392 (primary descendant; major N1a1 root)
Notes & context
N-L708 is essential to any full representation of haplogroup N because it marks the beginning of the lineage that later dominates much of northern Eurasia. It provides critical context for understanding how deep Siberian paternal ancestry evolved into the large N-M178 complexes seen today.
References & external links