Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Autosomal comparison of eastern Black Sea and neighboring peoples

Hi, in this week’s article I am going to make comparisons of the peoples shared in the blog. I am going to share various comparisons and dendrogram results.

The autosomal results in the article have been obtained using the MDLP K16 calculator and the dendrograms have been generated based on those results.

Let me start with the dendrograms;




When I group Armenians and Hemshins separately;



After the dendrogram results now I am going to touch upon the divergent characteristics of these peoples;



Trabzon Greek - Trabzon Turk: No difference can be discerned between these two groups whether in the haplogroups or in the autosomes, it can be seen that the reason for the differentiation is the difference in religion.  



Armenian - Hemshin: When we investigate the small differences it can be seen that the ratio of Caucasian (CHG, i.e., hunter-gatherers of the Caucasus, hunter-gatherers found in the Caucasus 13 thousand years ago) in Hemshins is a bit higher than in Armenians (mostly western Armenians have been used for this chart, Armenians in Armenia or in further north are probably closer to the Hemshin average), other than this, the small increase in Steppe (people of the Bronze Age European steppe) in Hemshins and the small increase in Northeast European in Armenians are among the differences found.



Georgian - Laz: In this comparison there are some differences which may disturb our preconceptions. The first thing that sticks out is the highness of the Indian ratio in Georgians. Indian here refers to the SCA (South Central Asia) connection, i.e., the degree of relation with Iranic peoples. The difference in Northeast European also sticks out, while the Laz do not have any northeastern European connection at all Georgians show some connection, the reason behind this may be the colonies founded in Georgia. Another important difference is the higher level of Neolithic (Anatolian Neolithic) in the Laz than in Georgians, which means the Laz have more Anatolian connection.



Trabzon (Greek and Turk) - Cappadocian Greek: I deal with this comparison to see the differences between two groups that are relatively more distant geographically speaking. The first thing that sticks out is the relative increase in Indian (SCA) in Trabzon, other than that, an increase in the levels of Northeast European in Cappadocia sticks out, more detailed studies are needed to explain the reasons of this but my guess is that there is a relative increase related to the Indo-European groups coming to Anatolia in ancient times. The most salient difference is seen in the Neolithic component, Neolithic is high in Cappadocia relative to Trabzon. The reason for this is the proximity of Cappadocia to the Anatolian Neolithic region and the location of Trabzon in the Caucasian (CHG) region. There is no discernible difference other than the ones I have mentioned.



Laz - Armenian: To clarify the difference I am using the Armenian average excluding Hemshins. Among the most salient ones is the increase of Steppe in the Laz and the increase of Indian (SCA) in Armenians. The Caucasian (CHG) ratio is higher in the Laz than in Armenians. Also Armenians stick out with their higher Near East and Northeast European ratios.



Trabzon (Greek and Turk) - Laz: The Laz have higher Steppe ratio and their Indian (SCA) ratio seems to be higher with a small difference, while Caucasian (CHG) is higher in the Laz it is lower in Trabzon. Again, while no Northeast European is discernible in the Laz, in Trabzon we see a relatively higher ratio of it. In terms of the Near East ratios Trabzon is a bit higher than the Laz, in Neolithic Trabzon possess a higher ratio than found in the Laz.



Dersim Alevi - Giresun Turk - Other:  Dersim and Giresun differentiate from the others with some of their differences, the high East Eurasia ratios stick out in Giresun, this seems to be connected to the Oghuz groups coming to Anatolia from Asia. As for Dersim Alevis, their high Indian (SCA) ratios pull them towards Iran from Anatolia.


Conclusion: The Anatolian origins of the peoples I have mentioned are in a degree that makes all of them basically close to each other. The principle differences of these peoples other than the differences I have enumerated here are seen in the Y-DNA, in regard to this I had shown the Y-DNA ratios of the peoples of the eastern Black Sea region, for the other peoples, some Y-DNA studies about them can be accessed on the Internet. I hope I have managed to shed light on some things.


Amerindian - a component, which is modal (i.e has a peak) in various native American groups of North and South America, as well as in ancient DNA of Native Americans (Clovis, Kennewick man, etc).

Ancestor - an archaic component, detected in modern African Pygmy populations (such as Mbuties and Biaka) and Khoisan hunter-gatherers.

Steppe - a component which was sourced from ancient genome of European Bronze Age pastoralists: it roughly approximates levels of ancient North Eurasian hunter-gatherers' heritage, which was subsequently shown to have an influence in later eastern hunter-gatherers and to have spread into Europe via an incursion of Steppe herders beginning 4,500 years ago.

Indian - a component of ancestry harboured by populations of Indian subcontinent

Arctic - a component displayed in genomes of Eskimo Inuits from Greenland and shared with Siberian Chukchis/Koryaks.

Australian - a component of aboriginal ancestry assigned to Australian aborigens.

Caucasian - a major component of ancestry of modern inhabitants of Caucasus, Iran and northern Indian       : it was derived from genomes of mesolithic Caucasian Hunter-gatherers: a major ancestral component linked to CHG was carried west and east by migrating herders from the Eurasian Steppe.

EastAfrican - a very dilluted component being inherited specififically from ancient inhabitants of Ethiopia and African Horn

NorthEastEuropean - a fancy moniker for a dominant type of ancestry in North-Eastern Europe based on older type of ancestry (WHG, west European Hunter-Gatherer), today this type of ancestry peaks in the Baltic region and Scandinavia

NearEast - a component harboured and later carried by ancient populations of Near East, in our time it reaches the maximum among Bedoins and Saudi Arabians; the component seems to carry an excess of Eurasian Basal component relative to Neolithic component.

Neolithic - a component, modeled on genomes of first neolithic farmers of Anatolia (West Asia), these farmers from West Asia migrated to Europe during the Neolithic and carried this component with them.

NorthAfrican - a local component of ancestry found in North Africans: this local North African genetic component is very different from the one found in the populations in the south of the Sahara (Subsaharian component, see below).

Oceanic - a component of aboriginal ancestry assigned to aborigens of Melanesia and Papua-New-Guinea.

Siberian - a component, which is rougly ascribed to Central Siberian (found at highest frequency in Nganasan)

SouthEastAsian - a dominant component of South East Asians: being highest among the Dai, Cambodians, Lahu and Malay, this is the most common East Asian component among South Asians.


Subsaharian - a main component of ancestry seen in Yoruba, Mandenka and Luhya populations.

Thursday, January 18, 2018

Autosomal DNA of Trabzon and its districts

Hi everyone. In this week’s article I am going to divide Trabzon in general and Greeks and Turks included in this general average into separate statistics. I am going to share 3 averages based on district, people who are in these district averages come from the same district by all the known ancestry. People who have relatives from two different districts are not included in the district averages, I did not make statistics for some districts due to the few number of people taking autosomal tests but I will update and publish the districts whose number of testees reaches 5. As always, there is the explanation of the components at the end of the statistics. 

To speak of the results,  they in general reflect Anatolian genetics except for the small differences from the peoples I covered in my other articles.

Trabzon general average



Trabzon Turkish average



Trabzon Greek average


Sürmene district average


Çaykara district average


Akçaabat district average


Amerindian - a component, which is modal (i.e has a peak) in various native American groups of North and South America, as well as in ancient DNA of Native Americans (Clovis, Kennewick man, etc).

Ancestor - an archaic component, detected in modern African Pygmy populations (such as Mbuties and Biaka) and Khoisan hunter-gatherers.

Steppe - a component which was sourced from ancient genome of European Bronze Age pastoralists: it roughly approximates levels of ancient North Eurasian hunter-gatherers' heritage, which was subsequently shown to have an influence in later eastern hunter-gatherers and to have spread into Europe via an incursion of Steppe herders beginning 4,500 years ago.

Indian - a component of ancestry harboured by populations of Indian subcontinent

Arctic - a component displayed in genomes of Eskimo Inuits from Greenland and shared with Siberian Chukchis/Koryaks.

Australian - a component of aboriginal ancestry assigned to Australian aborigens.

Caucasian - a major component of ancestry of modern inhabitants of Caucasus, Iran and northern Indian       : it was derived from genomes of mesolithic Caucasian Hunter-gatherers: a major ancestral component linked to CHG was carried west and east by migrating herders from the Eurasian Steppe.

EastAfrican - a very dilluted component being inherited specififically from ancient inhabitants of Ethiopia and African Horn

NorthEastEuropean - a fancy moniker for a dominant type of ancestry in North-Eastern Europe based on older type of ancestry (WHG, west European Hunter-Gatherer), today this type of ancestry peaks in the Baltic region and Scandinavia

NearEast - a component harboured and later carried by ancient populations of Near East, in our time it reaches the maximum among Bedoins and Saudi Arabians; the component seems to carry an excess of Eurasian Basal component relative to Neolithic component.

Neolithic - a component, modeled on genomes of first neolithic farmers of Anatolia (West Asia), these farmers from West Asia migrated to Europe during the Neolithic and carried this component with them.

NorthAfrican - a local component of ancestry found in North Africans: this local North African genetic component is very different from the one found in the populations in the south of the Sahara (Subsaharian component, see below).

Oceanic - a component of aboriginal ancestry assigned to aborigens of Melanesia and Papua-New-Guinea.

Siberian - a component, which is rougly ascribed to Central Siberian (found at highest frequency in Nganasan)

SouthEastAsian - a dominant component of South East Asians: being highest among the Dai, Cambodians, Lahu and Malay, this is the most common East Asian component among South Asians.

Subsaharian - a main component of ancestry seen in Yoruba, Mandenka and Luhya populations.

Thursday, January 11, 2018

Autosomal DNA of peoples neighboring the eastern Black Sea (Armenians, Cappadocian Greeks, Georgians and Giresun Turks)

In this week’s article I am going to share the autosomal charts of peoples that are neighbor or proximate to the eastern Black Sea; you can see the results of Armenians, Cappadocian Greeks, Georgians and Giresun Turks in the charts and can find the explanation of the charts below.
Update (January 14, 2018): I have added Dersim Alawites to the averages.
Update (January 30th, 2018): I have split the Armenian average into two.


Excluding Hemshins







Amerindian - a component, which is modal (i.e has a peak) in various native American groups of North and South America, as well as in ancient DNA of Native Americans (Clovis, Kennewick man, etc).

Ancestor - an archaic component, detected in modern African Pygmy populations (such as Mbuties and Biaka) and Khoisan hunter-gatherers.

Steppe - a component which was sourced from ancient genome of European Bronze Age pastoralists: it roughly approximates levels of ancient North Eurasian hunter-gatherers' heritage, which was subsequently shown to have an influence in later eastern hunter-gatherers and to have spread into Europe via an incursion of Steppe herders beginning 4,500 years ago.

Indian - a component of ancestry harboured by populations of Indian subcontinent

Arctic - a component displayed in genomes of Eskimo Inuits from Greenland and shared with Siberian Chukchis/Koryaks.

Australian - a component of aboriginal ancestry assigned to Australian aborigens.

Caucasian - a major component of ancestry of modern inhabitants of Caucasus, Iran and northern Indian       : it was derived from genomes of mesolithic Caucasian Hunter-gatherers: a major ancestral component linked to CHG was carried west and east by migrating herders from the Eurasian Steppe.

EastAfrican - a very dilluted component being inherited specififically from ancient inhabitants of Ethiopia and African Horn

NorthEastEuropean - a fancy moniker for a dominant type of ancestry in North-Eastern Europe based on older type of ancestry (WHG, west European Hunter-Gatherer), today this type of ancestry peaks in the Baltic region and Scandinavia

NearEast - a component harboured and later carried by ancient populations of Near East, in our time it reaches the maximum among Bedoins and Saudi Arabians; the component seems to carry an excess of Eurasian Basal component relative to Neolithic component.

Neolithic - a component, modeled on genomes of first neolithic farmers of Anatolia (West Asia), these farmers from West Asia migrated to Europe during the Neolithic and carried this component with them.

NorthAfrican - a local component of ancestry found in North Africans: this local North African genetic component is very different from the one found in the populations in the south of the Sahara (Subsaharian component, see below).

Oceanic - a component of aboriginal ancestry assigned to aborigens of Melanesia and Papua-New-Guinea.

Siberian - a component, which is rougly ascribed to Central Siberian (found at highest frequency in Nganasan)

SouthEastAsian - a dominant component of South East Asians: being highest among the Dai, Cambodians, Lahu and Malay, this is the most common East Asian component among South Asians.


Subsaharian - a main component of ancestry seen in Yoruba, Mandenka and Luhya populations.

Friday, January 5, 2018

Hemshin Autosomal DNA

Now I am going to share with you the Hemshin autosomal chart that I made for the series of articles about the autosomal DNA of the eastern Black Sea peoples. 12 Hemshin samples were used in the chart and the MDLP K16 calculator was used for it. Information about the components used is provided below.


Amerindian - a component, which is modal (i.e has a peak) in various native American groups of North and South America, as well as in ancient DNA of Native Americans (Clovis, Kennewick man, etc).

Ancestor - an archaic component, detected in modern African Pygmy populations (such as Mbuties and Biaka) and Khoisan hunter-gatherers.

Steppe - a component which was sourced from ancient genome of European Bronze Age pastoralists: it roughly approximates levels of ancient North Eurasian hunter-gatherers' heritage, which was subsequently shown to have an influence in later eastern hunter-gatherers and to have spread into Europe via an incursion of Steppe herders beginning 4,500 years ago.

Indian - a component of ancestry harboured by populations of Indian subcontinent

Arctic - a component displayed in genomes of Eskimo Inuits from Greenland and shared with Siberian Chukchis/Koryaks.

Australian - a component of aboriginal ancestry assigned to Australian aborigens.

Caucasian - a major component of ancestry of modern inhabitants of Caucasus, Iran and northern Indian       : it was derived from genomes of mesolithic Caucasian Hunter-gatherers: a major ancestral component linked to CHG was carried west and east by migrating herders from the Eurasian Steppe.

EastAfrican - a very dilluted component being inherited specififically from ancient inhabitants of Ethiopia and African Horn

NorthEastEuropean - a fancy moniker for a dominant type of ancestry in North-Eastern Europe based on older type of ancestry (WHG, west European Hunter-Gatherer), today this type of ancestry peaks in the Baltic region and Scandinavia

NearEast - a component harboured and later carried by ancient populations of Near East, in our time it reaches the maximum among Bedoins and Saudi Arabians; the component seems to carry an excess of Eurasian Basal component relative to Neolithic component.

Neolithic - a component, modeled on genomes of first neolithic farmers of Anatolia (West Asia), these farmers from West Asia migrated to Europe during the Neolithic and carried this component with them.

NorthAfrican - a local component of ancestry found in North Africans: this local North African genetic component is very different from the one found in the populations in the south of the Sahara (Subsaharian component, see below).

Oceanic - a component of aboriginal ancestry assigned to aborigens of Melanesia and Papua-New-Guinea.

Siberian - a component, which is rougly ascribed to Central Siberian (found at highest frequency in Nganasan)

SouthEastAsian - a dominant component of South East Asians: being highest among the Dai, Cambodians, Lahu and Malay, this is the most common East Asian component among South Asians.

Subsaharian - a main component of ancestry seen in Yoruba, Mandenka and Luhya populations.

Friday, December 29, 2017

Laz Autosomal DNA

I’d like to begin my series of articles on autosomal DNA with the Laz people. This article will be based on the MDLP K16 calculator. I will publish the statistics I made based on 16 Laz samples and then share the details of the mentioned components.



Amerindian - a component, which is modal (i.e has a peak) in various native American groups of North and South America, as well as in ancient DNA of Native Americans (Clovis, Kennewick man, etc).

Ancestor - an archaic component, detected in modern African Pygmy populations (such as Mbuties and Biaka) and Khoisan hunter-gatherers.

Steppe - a component which was sourced from ancient genome of European Bronze Age pastoralists: it roughly approximates levels of ancient North Eurasian hunter-gatherers' heritage, which was subsequently shown to have an influence in later eastern hunter-gatherers and to have spread into Europe via an incursion of Steppe herders beginning ∼4,500 years ago.

Indian - a component of ancestry harboured by populations of Indian subcontinent

Arctic - a component displayed in genomes of Eskimo Inuits from Greenland and shared with Siberian Chukchis/Koryaks.

Australian - a component of aboriginal ancestry assigned to Australian aborigens.

Caucasian - a major component of ancestry of modern inhabitants of Caucasus, Iran and northern Indian       : it was derived from genomes of mesolithic Caucasian Hunter-gatherers: a major ancestral component linked to CHG was carried west and east by migrating herders from the Eurasian Steppe.

EastAfrican - a very dilluted component being inherited specififically from ancient inhabitants of Ethiopia and African Horn

NorthEastEuropean - a fancy moniker for a dominant type of ancestry in North-Eastern Europe based on older type of ancestry (WHG, west European Hunter-Gatherer), today this type of ancestry peaks in the Baltic region and Scandinavia

NearEast - a component harboured and later carried by ancient populations of Near East, in our time it reaches the maximum among Bedoins and Saudi Arabians; the component seems to carry an excess of Eurasian Basal component relative to Neolithic component.

Neolithic - a component, modeled on genomes of first neolithic farmers of Anatolia (West Asia), these farmers from West Asia migrated to Europe during the Neolithic and carried this component with them.

NorthAfrican - a local component of ancestry found in North Africans: this local North African genetic component is very different from the one found in the populations in the south of the Sahara (Subsaharian component, see below).

Oceanic - a component of aboriginal ancestry assigned to aborigens of Melanesia and Papua-New-Guinea.

Siberian - a component, which is rougly ascribed to Central Siberian (found at highest frequency in Nganasan)

SouthEastAsian - a dominant component of South East Asians: being highest among the Dai, Cambodians, Lahu and Malay, this is the most common East Asian component among South Asians.

Subsaharian - a main component of ancestry seen in Yoruba, Mandenka and Luhya populations.

Friday, December 22, 2017

Y-DNA differences and similarities between the peoples of the eastern Black Sea region

In this article I will assess the differences and similarities between the peoples of the eastern Black Sea region in terms of Y-DNA. Let’s begin by remembering the results of the 3 peoples I have published up until now;





Let me begin with the most dominant branches. Because only the basic haplogroups are shown on the tables, the differences in sub-branches are not clear from them.


The most dominant branch of the Greek/Turkish people of Trabzon is the M406 sub-branch of G2a.



On the other hand, the most dominant G2a branch among the Laz people is the L293 branch.



The M92 branch of J2a, which is the most dominant haplogroup among the Laz, comes to the fore among them.



As for the Hemshin people, while there is a situation of homogeneity, L1b and J2a seem to be dominant among them, and let’s not forget that their J2a is divided into various branches whereas the eastern Black Sea branch of L1b is specific among them.




The principle similarity between these 3 peoples is the PH8, i.e., eastern Black Sea branch of L1b. Despite the fact that it is unknown when this branch reached the region, it is thought that it came from around Iran at least 3000 years ago. It is found frequently among the peoples of the eastern Black Sea region.

Also some similarity is also found among the various branches of J2a, the M67 branches that are frequent in Trabzon is also seen found among the other peoples of the region, however less frequently.



Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Hemshin Y-DNA Haplogroups

In this part I am going to investigate the Y-DNA of another people of the eastern Black Sea region, that of the Hemshin people. In the study I used 49 Hemshin samples, so have a look at the results;






R1b: Let’s begin haplogroup R, vast majority belong to the Z2103 branch.




J2a: Most of them belong to the M67 sub-branch.




L1b: The ones among the Hemshin belong to PH8, i.e., the eastern Black Sea branch of L.




G1a: For those who have been following this blog, G1a is a haplogroup which we have not investigated before, it is found abundantly among the Hemshin, in contrast to other peoples from the Black Sea region. Among the people who possess this haplogroup, those who live to the east of the Caspian Sea and those who live to the west of it differ from each other in their sub-branches.



I2: Most of them are I2a.





G2a: All of them belong to the M406 branch.