Overview
N-Y13850 is an authentically attested, genetically distinct downstream branch of the N2a-P189.2 lineage and forms one of the deepest internal partitions of N2a outside the well-characterized FGC28535 and Z35144 lines. Its position in the phylogeny suggests that it emerged among early Holocene or early Bronze Age populations inhabiting the Siberian interior or the transition zone between the Altai, Sayan and Yenisei river systems. Unlike its sister branches, which diffused into Europe or western Siberia, Y13850 appears to have remained within Inner Asian populations or communities connected through east–west mountain corridors. This persistent geographic anchoring allowed N-Y13850 to retain ancestral diversity while remaining rare in modern populations, making it important for reconstructing the lesser-known population layers that fed into later demographic events across Eurasia.
Geographic distribution
Modern Y13850 lineages occur mostly in Russia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia, with occasional isolates in Turkic-speaking groups of Central Asia. A small number of samples appear in China, particularly in Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia, where they may reflect historical contact zones tied to mountain pastoralism, early Silk Road interactions or earlier Bronze Age migrations. Its distribution is sparse but geographically consistent with a long-standing Inner Asian origin.
Ancient DNA
- Ancient individuals from Bronze Age contexts in the Altai-Sayan region exhibit N2a signatures that, upon fine resolution, cluster near the basal nodes of Y13850.
- Genomic sequences from Inner Asian pastoralists show upstream and parallel N2a lineages closely related to Y13850, indicating the presence of this paternal layer in early steppe societies.
- Ancient Xinjiang and western Mongolia samples contain N2 P189.2 lineages that may represent ancestral or sister lines to Y13850.
Phylogeny & subclades
Y13850 stands as the core of the N2a3 cluster, forming a triadic structure with FGC28535 and Z35144 under the greater N2a framework. Its branches remain shallow due to limited expansions but nonetheless form distinct microclusters visible in whole-Y sequencing datasets. This phylogenetic position makes Y13850 a genetically informative but understudied component of the N2a radiation.
- N-Y13850* (basal Inner Asian form)
- Minor microbranches in Mongolia and Kazakhstan
Notes & context
N-Y13850 highlights the inner complexity of N2a beyond the more commonly discussed Balkan or Volga-Ural clusters. Because it appears at low frequencies and has limited downstream branching, it provides unusually clean insight into earlier Holocene Siberian and Inner Asian paternal histories.
References & external links