An early farming lineage of the Caucasus and beyond
Haplogroup G, defined by M201, is strongly associated with the spread of early agriculture. It reaches its highest frequencies in the Caucasus but is found at lower levels across Europe, Anatolia, the Near East and parts of South and Central Asia. Ancient DNA has repeatedly recovered G from early European farmers, making it emblematic of the Neolithic expansion.
Haplogroup G is most concentrated in the Caucasus, where several populations carry it at high frequency. Beyond that it is spread thinly but widely across Europe, Anatolia, the Near East, and into Iran and South Asia. Nowhere in Europe is it dominant today, but its consistent low-level presence across the continent reflects its deep association with the first farmers.
Haplogroup G is generally thought to have originated in the Near East or the Caucasus region, and its spread into Europe is closely tied to the movement of Neolithic farmers out of Anatolia. Ancient DNA has been especially informative here: G is common in early European farming remains, even though it is comparatively uncommon in living Europeans, illustrating how much lineage frequencies can change over time.
G divides into two principal branches, G1 and G2, with G2 being the more common in Europe and the Near East. G2a in particular is the branch most often recovered from early European farmers. Specific downstream lineages are characteristic of Caucasus populations, where the haplogroup's internal diversity is greatest.
A G result suggests paternal ancestry connected to the early farming populations of the Near East and Caucasus, later carried into Europe. Downstream testing distinguishes the European farmer-associated branches from the Caucasus-centred ones, which is the level at which the result becomes geographically informative.
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