A finely resolved phylogeny of Y chromosome Hg J illuminates the processes of Phoenician and Greek colonizations in the Mediterranean

Abstract

In order to improve the phylogeography of the male-specific genetic traces of Greek and Phoenician colonizations on the Northern coasts of the Mediterranean, we performed a geographically structured sampling of seven subclades of haplogroup J in Turkey, Greece and Italy. We resequenced 4.4 Mb of Y-chromosome in 58 subjects, obtaining 1079 high quality variants. We did not find a preferential coalescence of Turkish samples to ancestral nodes, contradicting the simplistic idea of a dispersal and radiation of Hg J as a whole from the Middle East. Upon calibration with an ancient Hg J chromosome, we confirmed that signs of Holocenic Hg J radiations are subtle and date mainly to the Bronze Age. We pinpointed seven variants which could potentially unveil star clusters of sequences, indicative of local expansions. By directly genotyping these variants in Hg J carriers and complementing with published resequenced chromosomes (893 subjects), we provide strong temporal and distributional evidence for markers of the Greek settlement of Magna Graecia (J2a-L397) and Phoenician migrations (rs760148062). Our work generated a minimal but robust list of evolutionarily stable markers to elucidate the demographic dynamics and spatial domains of male-mediated movements across and around the Mediterranean, in the last 6,000 years.

Early medieval genetic data from Ural region evaluated in the light of archaeological evidence of ancient Hungarians

“…The Uyelgi branch of the tree is very compact, clearly connects the oldest and youngest horizons together, however, the maternal lineages of the populations from Uyelgi and the Hungarian conquerors are separated (for the abbreviation and further information see Table S7). 36 . Interestingly, a Hungarian conqueror from Sárrétudvari-Hízóföld (SH/81) carries the J2a1a subgroup 16 , however Uyelgi11 could not be typed downstream to J2 and therefore further assumptions cannot be made at this level.…”

Early Medieval Genetic Data from Ural Region Evaluated in the Light of Archaeological Evidence of Ancient Hungarians

“…Uyelgi11 from Kurgan 29 belongs to J2 Y-haplogroup. The Y-haplogroup J is widespread nowadays descended from the Near East 36 . Interestingly, a Hungarian conqueror from Sárrétudvari-Hízóföld (SH/81) carries the J2a1a subgroup 16 , however Uyelgi11 could not be typed downstream to J2 and therefore further assumptions cannot be made at this level.…”

Middle eastern genetic legacy in the paternal and maternal gene pools of Chuetas

“…Haplogroup J-12f2a, thought to have originated in the Fertile Crescent 59 , shows an East to West gradient in Europe. Although the phylogeography of haplogroup J is complex, its radiation seems to be concentrated mainly in the Bronze Age, an essential period for the establishment of the modern European genetic pool 60 . It contains two major branches, one of them, J2-M172, has its high frequencies in the Levant and is the most frequent sub-haplogroup in Europe, mainly throughout the Mediterranean basin.…”

“…It was long considered to have spread across Europe with the demic diffusion of Neolithic agriculturalists 61,62 , but ancient DNA studies contradict this hypothesis, since in early Middle Eastern farmers, and also in European Neolithic remains, haplogroup J2-M172 is only detected sporadically 63 . Signs of population movements from the East, mainly maritime, such www.nature.com/scientificreports/ as the Phoenicians 7,56,63 have been linked to J2 56,60 and also to the other main branch, J1-M267. This lineage has its maximum frequency in Arabia, but also high frequencies in the Middle East and in Jewish groups 58,64 .…”