An update to the previous posting.

Update on J2-Z6065>P81

Thanks to the vigilance of our members, Tigran Sg and others, I re-examined all available data on J2-Z6065>P81. Here is an update to the previous post.

In the Lazaridis et al. (2024) preprint, a new Maykop sample was published. The paper itself did not provide many details about its subclade, and I initially assumed that the coverage was insufficient. However, after the paper was formally published in Nature this year and the files became available, its subclade could be identified. According to FTDNA, it belongs to J2-Z6065>P81. Another reason I overlooked it earlier is that the Chinese website YTree places P81 in a very different position within J2, which further contributed to the confusion.

In any case, the presence of J2-P81 in a Maykop context makes sense. The lineage is also found today in the northwestern Caucasus and in Ukraine. It is particularly noteworthy that its parallel branch has been identified in Bronze Age Anatolia, at Ovaören. This strongly suggests that both branches were originally associated with Chaff-Faced Ware communities in historic Armenia. One branch appears to have moved northward, becoming part of the Maykop genetic profile, while the other moved into Anatolia, potentially becoming associated with Hittite–Luwian populations.

According to YFull, the two branches share a common ancestor approximately 8,400 years ago, which roughly coincides with the formation of the Shulaveri–Shomu Neolithic cultural horizon.

Returning to the J2-P81 sample from the Alan period, we can now be confident that it had a local origin, at least dating back to the Bronze Age or even the Eneolithic.