Recent events is a good possibility. I think it’s likely that as Armenian culture expanded (whether this was during the Mushki/Urumu/Transcaucasian expansion during the 12
thcentury, during the expansion of Urartu, during the expansion of Mita’s Mushkis, or after the establishment of the Kingdom of Armenia—or some combination of these) other peoples were assimilated into the Armenian culture—Hattians, Hittites, Hurrians, Urartians, Luwians, etc. There was also a separate wave of migration of Armenians into central/southern Anatolia (Cappadocia/Cilicia) during/after the Seljuk invasion in the 11
thcentury CE which would be unrelated to the initial Armenian expansion(s) during the Iron Age. I think something like 60% of modern Armenians in Armenia descend fully or partially from Western (i.e. Turkish) Armenians who moved there after the Genocide. Western Armenians also tend to be a bit closer genetically to Assyrians than Eastern (Russian) Armenians, which could be due to more recent intermarriages, or it could be due to assimilated locals during the Iron Age. Y-DNA J2 tends to be relatively high in modern Armenians (about 22% of Armenians), the second largest Y-haplogroup after R1b. G2 and J1 are present in a little bit more than 10% of modern Armenians. While some of these haplogroups could have been present in the proto-Armenians, I suspect that at least some of these haplogroups reached Armenians through absorbed peoples (Hurrians, etc).
I meant the Armenian table samples, I should have been more clear. What I wanted to know is if they were found in northern Armenia or southern Armenia (for example, in the SW of Armenia, some of these could be explained by Indo-Iranian groups like the Mitanni potentially). The second excel seems to address this—two samples, Kalavan (dated to 2619-2465 BCE) and Nerquin Getashen (dated to 1906-1698 BCE) are of particular interest as they are both R1b1a1, which something like 30% of modern Armenians are. Both sites are located on the shores of Lake Sevan, which played a central role in the settlement of Proto-Armenians according to Hrachya Martirosyan (see page 10, although I suggest that you look at pages 7-10 for the purposes of the wider discussion in this thread as it touches upon the relationship between Proto-Armenians and Proto-Greeks, etc
https://www.hse.ru/data/2014/09/01/1313574129/Hrach Martirosyan - Handout.pdf) and also Armen Petrosyan’s “Gegh” theory:
https://www.academia.edu/33109045/I...of_Indo-European_studies_2016_1-2_pp._129-146.
What’s interesting about the Kalavan sample is that it falls within the range of a) the
Nature article’s findings regarding the formation of the Armenian nation sometime between 3000-2000 BCE and b) more surprisingly, it falls within the legendary date of the founding of the Armenian nation by Hayk in 2492 BCE, as recorded in the Middle Ages by Moses of Khorene. Fascinating stuff. I really appreciate you sharing these with me.
I guess I didn’t read that Mycenean Nature study closely enough. It seems that what’s it’s saying is that the Eurasian ancestry in the Mycenaeans could have come directly from the Steppes (potentially a Yamnaya-derived or connected population) or from Armenia. Thanks for pointing that out to me.
I’m fine with Hay coming from Hatti. This was proposed in that Austin article you linked way back in the 1940s. Diakonoff and Greppin ran with it and suggested that the Urartians called anybody to their west “Hatti” (i.e. Hittite, regardless of language/culture). We do know that Eastern Anatolia and the Caucasus were important for metallurgy and the metal trade (primarily tin but also other metals). Petrosyan had an issue with the Hatti etymology though mainly due to the relationship between
kh and
h (he’s a proponent of the PIE
poti theory, which others take issue with). See pages 37-40:
https://www.academia.edu/3657764/To...Proto-Armenians_A_Critical_Review_in_English_
Personally, I’m agnostic about these etymologies. I do think that there was likely Hattian contact with Indo-Europeans prior to the Hittites (or at least the recorded Hittites--it could have been Proto-Hittites or some sort of earlier or "Common" Anatolian group). For example, the Hattian storm god was Taru, which is equated with the Anatolian Tarhunna/Tarhunt. The Anatolian names are etymologized as being Indo-European, but the Hittites are assumed to have borrowed much of their pantheon from the Hattians. So this connection seems to be contradictory/confused. A pre-2000 BCE contact between Hattians and Indo-Europeans (perhaps related to the metal trade) could explain this. If they weren't Anatolians, maybe they were Phrygians, Armenians, Greeks, or some other group. If Damgaard's Armani were some sort of early Anatolian-speakers, it could have been these people. Perhaps Armi/Armani was a metal trading colony, acting as an intermediary between the north (Steppes/Caucasus) and south (Mesopotamia).
You might appreciate this article regarding early Anatolians in Armenia:
https://www.academia.edu/10682326/T...urnal_of_Near_Eastern_Studies_IV_1_2009_63-72
(I share a lot of Petrosyan because, while I don't necessarily buy all his theories, his positions are a) not blinded by nationalism and b) are easily available in English)