The indel FGC55778 has recently been discovered on the FTDNA Haplotree to unite four previously separate lineages of J-Z1043:
- Y98609 (Rheinland-Pfalz, England, Czech, Russia, Bosnia)
- FGC55768 (Baden-Württemberg, Elsass, Masuria, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Greece, England/France)
- FT212328 (Denmark, Slovakia)
- BY177422 (near border of Saxony/Thüringen/Saxony-Anhalt)
There are also a few other men with English and German surnames whose closest STR matches appear in this group but it's not for certain which branch they belong.
Another man with a Slavic name is definitely FGC55768* based on a large number of rare SNPs shared with the man from Fokida, Greece and Greater Poland Voidvodeship.
The interesting thing about these men is that they all have DYS389a = 10, which is very divergent from the modal J-Z1043 of 13.
Due to so many apparently separate lineages of J-Z1043 having either DYS385a=13 or 10, yet descending from J-Z631 with DYS385a=13, it seemed likely that a SNP would eventually be found to unite all men with DYS385a=10. Otherwise it would have been a weird coincidence that several lineages independently mutated a deletion of three.
Now we have SNP confirmation in J-FGC55778, which can be tested at YSEQ's lab in Berlin for $18 here - FGC55778 SNP test
Where did J-FGC55778 Likely Live 800 BC?
J-FGC55778 only had a single mutation after J-Z1043, so he likely lived around 800 BC.
Despite the presence in or near Germany of all four lineages downstream of J-FGC55778 (five including the one man who is J-FGC55778* who is of German descent), I think we need more samples to define geographically consistent sublineages before ruling out a possibility of Roman mediated migration of J-Z1043 from the Balkans / Mediterranean to Germany and NW Europe.
Absent the J-Z1043 context, I would otherwise assume that the ancestor of J-FGC55778 most likely was living in or near Germany.
So far men from the Balkans are only found in two of the five (four downstream plus basal) lineages. If men from the Mediterranean / Balkans are eventually found in some of the other lineages, then it will conform to the heavy Balkan diversity in J-Z1043 (800 BC) and in all branches upstream of J-Z1043 until J-Z597 (2400 BC).
Ongoing Research
We'll be testing a man tracing descent to an ancient Karachay village near the foot of Mt. Elbrus for this SNP because his closest 37 STR marker matches are in these lineages. The funds were donated by a man in J-FGC55768.
For those wishing to donate to support further research I am managing two separate funds:
The J-L283 Research Fund's goal is to fund testing of samples that could help answer how our ancestors migrated to Europe, specifically from undersampled regions around the Black and Caspian Seas. J-L283 As Caucasus Hunter Gatherer Component in Yamnaya
The J-Z1043 Research Fund's goal is to fund testing of samples that could help answer where was this man born, what culture did he belong to and where did he migrate in his life. There is little geographic consistency in lineages of J-Z1043 which hints at massive displacement during the Roman Era.
A priority for J-Z1043 research will be to test men from the Balkans / Italy with DYS385a=10 for this new SNP, FGC55778. Many had tested for other SNPs but were negative. Establishing basal FGC55778 in the Balkans would be useful for our research and increase the evidence in favor of a Balkan origin of J-Z1043.