Haplogroup J-M267, also commonly known as Haplogroup J1, is a subclade (branch) of Y-DNA haplogroup J-P209 (commonly known as haplogroup J) along with its sibling clade haplogroup J-M172 (commonly known as haplogroup J2). (All these haplogroups have had other historical names listed below.) The oldest J-M267 positive remains found so far are from a Caucasus Hunter-Gatherer from Satsurblia cave, Georgia. Men from this lineage share a common paternal ancestor, which is demonstrated and defined by the presence of the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) mutation referred to as M267, which was announced in (Cinnioğlu 2004). This haplogroup is found today in significant frequencies in many areas in or near the Arabian Peninsula and Western Asia. Out of its native Asian Continent, it is found at very high frequencies in Sudan. It is also found at very high but lesser extent in parts of the Caucasus, Ethiopia and parts of North Africa and amongst most Levant peoples, including Jewish groups, especially those with Cohen surnames. It can also be found much less commonly, but still occasionally in significant amounts, in parts of southern Europe and as far east as Central Asia.
Origins Since the discovery of haplogroup J-P209 it has generally been recognized that it shows signs of having evolved ~ 20,000 years ago somewhere in northwestern Iran, the Caucasus, the Armenian Highlands, and northern Mesopotamia. The frequency and diversity of both its major branches, J-M267 and J-M172, in that region makes them candidates as genetic markers of the spread of farming technology during the Neolithic, which is proposed to have had a major impact upon human populations. J-M267 has several recognized subclades, some of which were recognized before J-M267 itself was recognized, for example J-M62 Y Chromosome Consortium "YCC" 2002. With one notable exception, J-P58, most of these are not common (Tofanelli 2009). Because of the dominance of J-P58 in J-M267 populations in many areas, discussion of J-M267's origins require a discussion of J-P58 at the same time. Haplogroup J-P58 is strongly associated with ancient populations from the Caucasus and ancient Iran. Current DNA research indicates that this haplogroup was absent in all Natufian and Neolithic Levant male individuals examined thus far, but emerged during the Bronze Age in Lebanon and Jordan along with ancestry related to Chalcolithic Iranians. This ancestry penetrated the Levant between 3,300 and 5,900 YBP and Arabia between 2,000 and 3,500 YBP. These times overlap with the dates for the Bronze Age origin and spread of Semitic languages in the Middle East estimated from lexical data.
Distribution
Africa
North Africa and Horn of Africa North Africa received Semitic-language speaking migrations, according to some studies it may have been diffused in recent time by Arabs who, mainly from the 7th century A.D., expanded to northern Africa (Arredi 2004 and Semino 2004). However the Canary Islands is not known to have had any Semitic language. In North Africa J-M267 is dominated by J-P58, and dispersed in a very uneven manner according to studies so far, often but not always being lower among Berber and/or non-urban populations. In Ethiopia there are signs of older movements of J-M267 into Africa across the Red Sea, not only in the J-P58 form. This also appears to be associated with Semitic languages. According to a study in 2011, in Tunisia, J-M267 is significantly more abundant in the urban (31.3%) than in the rural total population (2.5%) (Ennafaa 2011).
Asia
South Asia J*(xJ-M172) was found in India among Indian Muslims.
West Asia The area including eastern Turkey and the Zagros and Taurus mountains, has been identified as a likely area of ancient J-M267 diversity. Both J-P58 and other types of J-M267 are present, sometimes with similar frequencies.
Levantine populations J-M267 is very common throughout this region, dominated by J-P58, but some specific sub-populations have notably low frequencies.
Arabian peninsula
J-P58 is the most common Y-Chromosome haplogroup among men from all of this region.
Europe J-M267 is uncommon in most of Northern and Central Europe. It is, however, found in significant pockets at levels of 5–10% among many populations in southern Europe. A 2018 genetic study (Finocchio et al. 2018) with the extant variation strongly suggests the Caucasus and regions North of it as likely to be an origin of the Greek and Italian J-M267 haplogroup.
Caucasus The Caucasus has areas of both high and low J-M267 frequency. The J-M267 in the Caucasus is also notable because most of it is not within the J-P58 subclade.
Subclade Distribution
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