Overview
Haplogroup R-Y9081 is an important regional branch of R2a that developed during the mid-Holocene within populations occupying the Helmand Basin, southern Afghanistan and the Makran–Baluchistan corridor. This region formed a pivotal ecological and cultural bridge between the Iranian highlands and the emergent South Asian interaction sphere. Y9081’s formation period corresponds with the consolidation of early sedentary farming villages and their integration with local herding groups. Modern Y9081 samples have been identified primarily in Baluchistan, southern Afghanistan and parts of southeastern Iran. Its presence in this interconnected tri-regional corridor is consistent with the archaeological footprint of early Chalcolithic cultures, including the Helmand cultural horizon, Shahr-i Sokhta influence zones and proto-urban complexes in the Makran coastal belt. No ancient sample has been directly assigned to Y9081, but its geographic profile parallels sites producing upstream R2a signatures, indicating that the lineage existed in these populations prior to later Bronze Age transformations.