Hovhannisyan et al

 Hovhannisyan et al. 2024 published for the first time 5 genome wide DNA samples of Sasun Armenians. Until now we had only Y DNA studies about Sasun Armenians which showed that their Y DNA pool is different from other Armenian subgroups (see picture 2). Various theories has been proposed to explain this difference based on historic records and legends.

The paper analyzed this question and didn't found much difference between modern Armenian subgroups and Sasun Armenian autosomes. You can see that on the PCA. They plot close to other Armenians marked as E,W,C while Sasun is marked as S. All five samples from Sasun are in the "southern" side of the "Armenian cloud" on the PCA which matches their geographic position. When the G25 coordinates of those samples became available we will have occasion to look at them closer.

As for their Y DNA difference, without ancient DNA from that region it will be hard to understand that peculiarity. T haplogroup homeland was in most likelihood located close or was overlapping with Sasun, while R2 in Sasun is probably a founder effect. R2 was prominent in Zagros neolithic farmers and recently was discovered even in South Caucasian farmers.

Sasun's Y DNA can also be related to the specific history of that region. Assyrian sources report a kingdom known as Shubria in that region. The name of this kingdom is derived from an older Sumerian term known as Subir. Not much is known about the Subir, except that in later sources the term Subarean language means a Hurrian language. In Iron Age multiple Hurrian king names are attested in that region. Even though this do not necessarily mean tha old Subir were Hurrians also. The neighboring southern lowlands of Sasun had a Semitic presence while in the north, in Mush region Urumu tribes are attested. Urumu later known as Urme were almost certainly an Armenian speaking tribe. Around 400BC Xenophon consider the Centrites (modern Botan river) as the southern border of Armenians. Sasun is situated north of that river border so well within the Armenian satrapy. More ancient DNA is needed to understand the whole complexity of the genetic history of that region