Grooved ware (ակոսավոր խեցեղեն), the missing piece of puzzle.

 Grooved Ware (ակոսավոր խեցեղեն), the missing piece of the puzzle

We have had many discussions in this group about the modern genetic profile of Armenians—how, where, and when it formed. Nareg Asatrian has frequently posted genetic qpAdm models showing the modern Armenian profile as a mixture of two populations. Similar models have been reproduced by other commentators and have started to appear in academic papers as well, most notably Hovhannisyan et al. 2025.

Although these models are statistically feasible and useful as rapid abstractions, the real historical events behind the formation of the modern genetic profile were more complex. Two key events are usually emphasized: the Middle Bronze Age migration from the Steppe and the Urartu expansion (840–600 BCE) with its policies of relocations. More than 1,500 years separate these two events, and it would be unusual if nothing remarkable occurred between them. In reality, a significant demographic event affected historic Armenia around 1200 BCE, known as the spread of Grooved Ware, also called Nairi Ware.

Based on the comprehensive study by Guido Guarducci, the oldest forms of Grooved Ware, which he calls Proto-Nairi, appear in the South Caucasus, mostly in Lchashen culture sites, and in northwestern Iran (1400–1300 BCE). The attached map is from Guarducci’s book. The red areas represent Proto-Nairi. The color coding can be misleading, as western Georgia is included even though it did not have Grooved Ware. The best way to interpret the map is to focus on the archaeological sites (dots) rather than the colors.

Around 1200 BCE, all the regions colored green suddenly witness the appearance of this new type of grooved pottery. Some scholars believe this event was associated with large migrations. However, there is considerable debate about the geographic origin of the migrants. Summarizing the opinions, they can be grouped into three categories:

1. Grooved Ware in the green zone came from the South Caucasus.

2. Grooved Ware in the green zone expanded from the Van basin.

3. The origins of Grooved Ware in the green zone were in the upper Euphrates, where a large number of sites with this type of pottery are found.

The pottery found in the red and green zones is not completely identical but shares important features. It is clear that the initial impulse came from the South Caucasus. However, a direct migration of Lchashen people into all the green lands would imply that modern Armenians should have higher Steppe ancestry than they do today. Another possibility is that the initial impulse from the South Caucasus affected groups living in the Van basin or upper Euphrates, who later expanded independently, spreading a genetic profile different from that of Lchashen. Such a scenario aligns better with the modern Armenian genetic profile.

Of course, later Urartian activities were also important in shaping the modern Armenian genetic profile. However, the Grooved Ware period is crucial for understanding the genetic history of the Highlands prior to the formation of Urartu. Unfortunately, the currently available ancient DNA is insufficient to favor any of the aforementioned theories, and, as usual, we will have to wait for new data.

If the aceramic nature of this site is confirmed then this will be the oldest Neolithic site in South Caucasus and probably in a wider region.

If the aceramic nature of this site is confirmed, it will be the oldest Neolithic site in the South Caucasus and probably in the wider region. Following the Lernagog 1 discovery, dated to the 7th millennium BCE, this would be the next major Neolithic site—most likely even more important than Lernagog 1.

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The possibility that Sumerians originated from north Mesopotamia raise the probability that Proto-Sumerians had the occasion to contact the Fertile Crescent farmers who moved to South Caucasus and further north of Caucasus.

 The possibility that the Sumerians originated from northern Mesopotamia increases the likelihood that Proto-Sumerians had contact with Fertile Crescent farmers who moved into the South Caucasus and beyond. This could mean that some lexical parallels between Sumerian and Proto-Indo-European (PIE) are genuine. Aleksi Sahala from the Helsinki Institute summarized proposed parallels. Not all cases are of high quality, but some have strong chances of being real cognates.

Here are some examples:

Sum. gud, gu4 ‘ox, bull; cattle’ ~ PIE *gwou(s)- ‘cow; ox’; Hitt. *kuṷāu-;
Sanskrit: go; Greek: bous (βοῦς); Tocharian B: keŭ; Old Norse: *kú; Armenian: kov.
Cattle were domesticated in the core Fertile Crescent region of West Asia and spread to the South and North Caucasus. It is plausible that the term used by pastoralists in the Pontic and Caspian steppe came from northern Mesopotamia, as it did for the Sumerians. The Egyptian words ka ‘ox’ and kaut ‘cow’ may share this origin. Notably, ancient Egyptian farmers carried T1a1a and H2 haplotypes, which were also present among historic Armenian and South Caucasus farmers.

Sum. šáḫ(a) ‘pig; boar’ → Akkadian šaḫû ‘pig’; Ugaritic šeḫû ‘pig’ ~ PIE *suh₁- ‘swine’; Sanskrit: sūkara (सुक्र); Tocharian B: suwo; Latin: sūs; Gothic: swein.
Variants include šaḫ, šúḫ (ŠUBUR). The reading with is widely accepted and supported by Akkadian. Similar words are found in Kartvelian languages, e.g., GZ ešw- ‘wild boar, pig’. These likely share a prehistoric etymology. The Armenian xoz is not directly derived from PIE but may be related to the same areal term or borrowed from Parthian.

Sum. sí-sí ‘horse’ ↔? Akkadian sisium ‘horse’ ← Hurrian issi(a) ‘horse’ ~ PIE *h₁ekwos ‘horse’; Hittite: aśuwas; C. Luwian: a-aš-šu; Sanskrit: áśva (अश); PIE Anatolian: *aĉwa-; Latin: equus; Albanian: sasë; Armenian: eš.
The trajectory of this word is likely from PIE to Sumerian. The author conjectures Indo-Iranian mediation, but the Armenian eš / išoy, formerly meaning ‘horse’, is the best source for the Hurrian form (Petrosyan 2002). The Armenian term later underwent a semantic shift (Martirosyan 2009). Sumerians and Akkadians likely received the word from Hurrians. Most Sumerian attestations are from the Ur III period, after the Akkadian period.

Sum. urud(a) ‘copper’ → Akkadian erû ‘copper’ ~ PIE *h₁reudh-ó- ‘red’; Sanskrit: rudhira; Avestan: raoðita; Tocharian A: rtär; Greek: eruthros (ἐρυθρός); Lithuanian: raudonas; Gaulish: roudos; Old Norse: rjóðr.
This is another notable example. The semantic shift is probably from a color term to a metal, similar to argentum ‘silver’. This word is attested in Sumerian from the 4th millennium BCE. Copper use predates Mesopotamia in the Highlands. If the word for ‘red’ was originally an Indo-European term, the most likely period is the Chaff-Faced Ware culture (Late Chalcolithic, 4200–3500 BCE), a mixed population almost certainly including IE speakers.

For other linguistic parallels, see the link in the comments. Also relevant are studies on PIE–Semitic lexical parallels.

The exact branch of G2 found in Middle Bronze Age kurgan in Atskuri near Akhaltsikhe is now available. Its the G2-Y258395.

 The exact branch of G2 found in a Middle Bronze Age kurgan at Atskuri near Akhaltsikhe is now identified as G2-Y258395.

Today, it is a minor branch found among Armenians, Turks, and Georgians. The parallel branch PH1780 is predominantly Georgian and Kartvelian, except for the subbranch PH311, which is more cosmopolitan. A slightly more distant parallel branch, L1264, is mainly found in the northwest Caucasus among Abkhaz–Adyghean speakers.

Given that the center of gravity of G2-Y258395 is located in what is now Turkey, it is reasonable to assume that the original ancestor of this branch likely lived somewhere between the Ardahan and Erzurum regions, rather than at Atskuri itself. Ancient samples from northeastern Turkey are needed to confirm this.

All three of these branches are part of the larger haplotype G2-L1266, which is around 7,800 years old. It is now reasonable to conclude that this haplotype was a Neolithic lineage that moved from the south—probably from the Upper Euphrates region—into the western and northwestern Caucasus during the Neolithic period, where it is abundant today. Another possible route, not yet fully ruled out, is a migration via Daghestan to the North Caucasus and the Maykop culture, followed by a backflow to the South Caucasus through the western Caucasus. However, this latter scenario is less likely than the first.

More information: G2-Y258395 YFull tree