There is also Phauenê, a province of Armenia, and Comisenê, and Orchistenê, which last furnishes the most cavalry. Chorzenê and Cambysenê are the most northerly .......(Artaxias and Zariadres) enlarged their kingdoms by cutting off for themselves parts of the surrounding nations, — I mean by cutting off Caspianê and Phaunitis and Basoropeda from the country of the Medes;
Wednesday, September 9, 2026
The patriarch Phawos (Փաւոս)
Saturday, November 9, 2024
New Kura–Araxes Y-DNA Samples from Ghalichi et al. (2024)
New Kura–Araxes Y-DNA Samples from Ghalichi et al. (2024)
Ghalichi et al. (2024) published seven new Kura–Araxes (KA) ancient samples from Georgia, specifically from the Dzedzevbi site near Dmanisi, along with two additional samples from Velikent in Dagestan.
Because of low genomic coverage, it was not possible to determine the deep subclades of these samples. However, the available data suggest that two male individuals from Dzedzevbi belong to haplogroup J2b2, while another appears to belong to J1, most likely from the Z1842 branch. The Velikent sample is also J1.
Current Y-DNA Dataset from Kura–Araxes Layers
At present, we have 16 Y-DNA samples from confirmed Kura–Araxes contexts. Of these:
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11 belong to J1-Z1842
Most of these J1 cases occur in regions geographically close to the eastern part of the Greater Caucasus range, including:
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Dagestan
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Kakheti
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Berkaber (Tavush)
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one case near Dmanisi
The strong predominance of J1 is almost certainly the result of a founder effect, since J1 appears to have been rare during earlier Neolithic periods.
Other Haplogroups in Kura–Araxes Contexts
When moving away from the eastern Caucasus regions, other haplogroups appear:
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R1b-V1636 — Sevan Basin
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G2b — Kaps, Shirak
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J2-M92 — Doghlauri, central Georgia
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J2b2 — Dzedzevbi (two cases)
According to analyses by Genarchivist researchers, one of the Dzedzevbi individuals belongs to J2b-FT3464, a minor branch found today in West Asia and Europe, while the other belongs to J2b2b-Z2453, an older lineage already present in Neolithic contexts such as the Shulaveri culture and Hajji Firuz Tepe.
Possible Interpretations
What can be inferred from this distribution?
As I have previously suggested, the J1 concentration in the northeastern regions of the Kura–Araxes horizon may be associated with North-East Caucasian (NEC)–speaking populations.
However, the entire Kura–Araxes horizon cannot have been NEC-speaking, because such a scenario would likely have left clear linguistic traces, which are not observed.
The rapid shift in Y-DNA composition when moving away from the eastern Caucasus strongly suggests that another ethnic group (or groups) was also present within the Kura–Araxes cultural sphere.
Possible Candidates
Two main possibilities are usually considered:
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Early Anatolian-speaking populations
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Hurro–Urartian-speaking populations
At present, the available dataset is still too small to establish clear connections between South Caucasus populations and the regions where Anatolian or Hurro–Urartian languages were later spoken (Anatolia, the Levant, and Mesopotamia).
Nevertheless, some patterns are already beginning to emerge.
Sunday, November 3, 2024
Ukraine Neolithic Hunter-Gatherer Ancestry in Yamnaya
Ukraine Neolithic Hunter-Gatherer Ancestry in Yamnaya
Lazaridis et al. (2024) discovered that Yamnaya populations contain a component of Ukraine Neolithic hunter-gatherer ancestry (UNHG). The term UNHG can be somewhat confusing, since in some archaeological traditions—especially in former Soviet scholarship—a hunter-gatherer community may be labeled “Neolithic” simply because it produced pottery, even if it did not practice farming.
Ghalichi et al. (2024) confirmed the presence of roughly 15% UNHG ancestry in Yamnaya populations. One example of a lineage associated with this component is I2-L699, which is regularly found in steppe populations and appears to derive from UNHG groups.
Importance for Armenian Ethnogenesis
The presence of I2 lineages in Yamnaya-related cultures is particularly relevant for discussions of Armenian ethnogenesis, given the presence of I2a2b in the Trialeti–Vanadzor culture.
Until recently, we had little additional information about this lineage. The closest European sample related to it was found in Eneolithic Croatia, with a common ancestor dated by FTDNA to around 8200 BCE. This age is sufficiently early for the lineage to have existed both among European farmers and UNHG populations.
A New Clue from the Steppe Eneolithic
Ghalichi et al. (2024) reported a new sample that may shed light on how I2a2b could have entered early Yamnaya communities as a rare lineage.
The study includes a female individual from the region near the Azov–Black Sea junction, labeled “Steppe Eneolithic outlier west” (KHB) and dated to around 4000 BCE near the Taman Peninsula. This individual shows a very high proportion of UNHG ancestry (about 43%), suggesting that the population may have migrated into the region from Ukraine.
Possible Scenario
If this outlier represents a regular population present in the region, it raises the possibility that I2a2b-Y16419 was also present there during the Eneolithic period. When Yamnaya and later Catacomb cultures formed, this lineage may have been incorporated into those populations as a minor component.
Later, it may have moved southward, eventually becoming part of populations associated with the Trialeti–Vanadzor culture, where it experienced a more significant expansion.
Future Research
To verify this hypothesis, additional ancient DNA samples will be necessary, particularly from:
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the Azov–Taman region, and
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southern Ukraine more broadly.
Such data may help clarify how UNHG-derived lineages became integrated into steppe populations and later appeared in the South Caucasus.
Saturday, July 20, 2024
The J2 haplogroup has a complex structure.
The J2 haplogroup has a complex structure. For those who want to understand it better here is a tree made by Rozhansky more than 6 years ago. We have already four detailed topics related to each major subbranch. Top four of most popular J2 branches in Armenia.
- +Z6049 found in Caucasian hunters. Popular today in Caucasus. A review about one of its subclade.
- +PF5197 found in India, Iran and Gulf region. Also, in ancient Neolithic Armenia.
- +M319 Popular in ancient Crete in Minoans. But also, in Eneolithic steppe.
Tuesday, May 28, 2024
Lernagog 1 - a new Neolithic site in Republic of Armenia near Talin.
New details are emerging about the Lernagog 1 site which was discovered in 2017 by an Armeno-Japanese team. Radiocarbon dates show that it is the oldest Neolithic site in South Caucasus and can be qualified as Early or Middle Neolithic (8-7th millennium BCE) Until the discovery of this site the advent of food producing in South Caucasus was mostly dated after 6200 BCE, known as Shulaveri- Aratashen- Shomutepe culture.
Sunday, October 22, 2023
Ancient DNA from Republic of Armenia.
Ancient DNA from Republic of Armenia.
The first table represents them by periods.
The second one by published papers.
The archaeological periods used in the first table are from Pavel Avetisyan ( Պավել Ավետիսյան ) and Arsen Bobokhyan "ARCHAEOLOGY OF ARMENIA IN REGIONAL CONTEXT", 2012.
Notes:
Sarukhan_unknown samples have now radiocarbon dates and are placed in LBA and EIA.
Middle Bronze is based on Lazaridis 2022 classification (5 samples) and plus two samples from Bobokhyan 2023. Reich labs AADR classification is not used, because of inconsistencies.
Reich lab AADR has 217 entries but 4 of them are duplicates. So there 213 aDNA in total. Three recent samples are not included yet there. Which makes overall 216 samples.
Saturday, September 16, 2023
Y DNA found in post-Urartian period. 600BC - 500AD.
The sample size is small for an accurate picture but it gives an idea what changed in this period compared to the preceding one. J2 increases. R1a appears. R1b and I2 decreases. J1 is Z1842 so it can be from the previous period. Genome wide they are similar to modern Armenians
Saturday, June 17, 2023
The word for horse in Hurrian
The word for horse in Hurrian ešši / iššiya is strikingly close to Armenian word eš (genitive išoy ) meaning donkey. This resemblance becomes even more striking if we take into account the fact that Armenian word for donkey was initially meaning horse and derives from the PIE root *éḱwos. The shifts are regular and well attested for the Armenian. E.g. *ḱwón > šun meaning dog.
Tuesday, October 27, 2020
Those new ancient samples change the modeling of Armenians.
Those new ancient samples change the modeling of Armenians. Steppe ancestry increase and comes more closer to what is expected from the level of Z2103, I2c2 and other haplotypes.
Target: Armenian
Distance: 0.9251% / 0.00925141
50.2 TUR_Arslantepe_EBA
36.0 IRN_Hajji_Firuz_C
10.0 RUS_Catacomb
3.8 Kura-Araxes_ARM_Talin
0.0 RUS_Darkveti-Meshoko_En
0.0 TUR_Kaman-Kalehoyuk_MLBA
No Steppe in Imeretia.
Target: Georgian_Imer
Distance: 2.2635% / 0.02263516
65.2 RUS_Darkveti-Meshoko_En
16.0 TUR_Kaman-Kalehoyuk_MLBA
9.2 Kura-Araxes_ARM_Talin
9.0 TUR_Arslantepe_EBA
0.6 RUS_Catacomb
0.0 IRN_Hajji_Firuz_C










