The flag of Western Armenia
Western Armenia – Occupied Motherland of Armenians
Ani, the capital of Armenia
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Western Armenia, loosely defined as those parts of Historic Armenia which were under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, or sometimes more concretely defined as the six Armenian vilayets of the Ottoman Empire were virtually completely depopulated of Armenians during centuries of persecution, kidnappings of Armenian girls, massacres, and finally the Armenian Genocide.
The Armenian history and presence in these parts of Anatolia stretched back for thousands of years and ever since the genocide Turkish government has allowed – through neglect and deliberate policy – most traces of the Armenian presence to be destroyed and lost, while simultaneously preventing Armenians from returning or reclaiming their old homes and monuments.
Dozens of Armenian dialects were lost, as the dispersed Armenian survivors learned the standardized Constantinople dialect of Armenian in order to be able to understand one another.
Origin of Dominant Armenian Haplogroups – R1b, J2, G2.- is the Armenian Highlands
1) R1b
Previously R1b was called:
R1b = Italic, Celtic, Germanic/ Hittite, Armenian
Now it is called:
R1b: Italo/Celtic, Germanic; Hittite, Armenian, Tocharian
A study published in August 2010 (Myres et al.) says : “The phylogenetic relationships of numerous branches within the core Y-chromosome haplogroup R-M207 support West Asian origin of haplogroup R1b, its initial differentiation there followed by a rapid spread of one of its sub-clades carrying the M269 mutation to Europe.”
“The results showed that King Tut belonged to a genetic profile group known as haplogroup R1b.”
“We think the common ancestor ( with Western Europeans) lived in the Caucasus about 9,500 years ago,”said Roman Scholz, director of Zurich-based DNA genealogy centre.”
“It is estimated that the earliest migration of haplogroup R1b into Europe began with the spread of agriculture in 7,000 BC, according to iGENEA.”
The invention of agriculture was a pivotal event in human history. The first animal tamed by people was the dog. Its domestication probably occurred in the Early Stone Age, in the period of hunting development. Centuries later, people managed to tame sheep, pigs, goats, and cows.
The Armenian Highlands are crucial in this regard. The oldest center of stock farming can be traced to the Armenian plateau. In a paper: “Domestication and early agriculture in the Mediterranean Basin: Origins, diffusion, and impact.”
Dr. Melinda A. Zeder (2008) argues that the early spread of agriculture known as the Neolithic revolution spread from the Armenian plateau through a mix of colonization and cultural diffusion, into Europe and elsewhere.
Dr. Zeder believes that in Europe the indigenous hunter gatherers adopted the new farming technologies by cultural diffusion. The map, from the article in the August 11 2008 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows the regions and dates where the four species were first domesticated.
“All of the Armenian R1b DNA belongs to the ancient branches of the R1b tree, while all the European traces belong to the younger branches.”
Lecture on the Armenian DNA – Library Of Congress
2) J2
“J2 has been traced back to the area between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea that comprises territory in northwestern Iraq and Iran, eastern Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia”, which is Armenian Highlands.
According to Eupedia a second expansion of J2 occurred with the advent of metallurgy. The oldest metallurgy centre is in Metsamor, Armenia. “Metsamor is a working excavation and museum on the site of an ancient city complex with a large metallurgical and astronomical centre (occupied ca. 7,000 BC – 17th c. CE).”
J2 is associated with Armenoids
3) G2
“Haplogroup G is defined by a mutation at M201. The first man to have the M201 mutation is thought to have lived about 30 thousand years ago (~1,200 generations), probably south of the Caucasus mountains and perhaps near Lake Van.”
“the homeland of this haplogroup has been estimated to be somewhere nearby eastern Anatolia, Armenia or western Iran, the only areas characterized by the co-presence of deep basal branches as well as the occurrence of high sub-haplogroup diversity.”
“We estimate that the geographic origin of hg G plausibly locates somewhere nearby eastern Anatolia, Armenia or western Iran.”
“Concerning the presence of hg G in the Caucasus, one of its distinguishing features is lower haplogroup diversity in numerous populations (Supplementary Table S1) compared with Anatolia and Armenia, implying that hg G is intrusive in the Caucasus rather than autochthonous.” (Distinguishing the co-ancestries of haplogroup G Y-chromosomes in the populations of Europe and the Caucasus)
There are very few populations in this world, if there are indeed any, who can rival the Y-DNA G subclade variety, and Y-DNA G STR diversity observed in Armenians. Frequency is less significant.(Assyrian DNA Project Administrator).
As of 26 November 2011. FTDNA Armenian DNA Project
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