Overview
N2a (P189.2) is the best documented and geographically most widespread branch of the rare N2 lineage. Whereas most N lineages are concentrated in northern Eurasia and among Uralic and Siberian populations, N2a shows a striking west Eurasian footprint, with downstream clades appearing from the Balkans and Anatolia to the Caucasus and parts of central Europe. Its phylogenetic position indicates that N2a originated within a late Upper Paleolithic or early Holocene northern Eurasian context and subsequently became incorporated into west Eurasian population networks, possibly through repeated episodes of steppe, forest steppe and mountain corridor mobility.
Geographic distribution
Modern N2a is rare but widely scattered. Downstream branches have been reported in the Altai Republic, the Balkans, Anatolia, the Caucasus and central Europe, including individuals from Hungary, Romania, the former Yugoslav region, Turkey and western Europe. This distribution suggests that small N2a lineages became embedded in various local populations without ever reaching high frequency.
Ancient DNA
- Ancient DNA analyses of north Eurasian and steppe populations have identified rare N2a related lineages in Upper Paleolithic or Mesolithic contexts, indicating an early presence in the north Eurasian corridor.
- Neolithic and Bronze Age individuals from the Pontic–Caspian and Balkan–Danubian regions occasionally carry N2a derived markers, consistent with low level integration of N2a into farming and pastoralist groups.
- The presence of N2a in both the Altai region and the eastern Mediterranean suggests that it participated in long distance connections linking Siberia, the Eurasian steppe and western Eurasia.
Phylogeny & subclades
N2a is defined by P189.2 and sits under the broader N2-Y6503 cluster. It is further subdivided into subbranches such as N2a1 and N2a2, which contain younger clades with attested samples in southeastern Europe, Anatolia and western Europe.
- N2a1 (Balkan–Anatolian centered branch)
- N2a2 (western and central European microbranches)
- Basal N2a* lineages in Altai and adjacent regions
Notes & context
N2a demonstrates that haplogroup N, while strongly associated with northern Eurasia and Uralic populations, also has a small but meaningful west Eurasian component. Because of its very low frequency, N2a is best interpreted through a combination of phylogenetic information and individual level sampling rather than population averages.
References & external links