
Originally Posted by
Maciamo
Haplogroup T is also extremely common in the Eurasian steppe and indubitably has connections with the Indo-Europeans, as attested by the ancient DNA from the Bronze Age in the Pontic steppes and Central Asia.
Incidentally, haplogroups J and T account for about 20% of the lineages in Italy, so it isn't little. Keep in mind that Middle Eastern lineages also included many subclades of H and K as well as haplogroups that are rarer in Europe like N1a, X2, U1, U7, U8 and U9.
Note that mtDNA haplogroup T, N1a and X2 have a strong affinity with the Caucasus, and surely correlate with Y-haplogroup G2a (and to a lower extent J2). Haplogroups U1, U8 and K peak in Anatolia and northern Mesopotamia (homeland of J2), but are also found in the Caucasus and beyond.
Haplogroups T and K are both quite common in the Eurasian steppes and surely represent the maternal counterpart of the migration of R1b1b from Anatolia to the Pontic steppes. This would explain why both haplogroups are so common in Europe and Central Asia, despite having originated in the Middle East. In Europe, K reaches its highest frequency around the Alps, in South and West Germany and Belgium, i.e. areas where R1b1b2a first settled, and which evolved into the advanced Celtic cultures of Hallstatt and La Tène.