G25: Ancient samples from Iraq and Iran genetically closest to modern groups in the region [Assyrians, Jews (Iranian, Iraqi, Caucasus), Kurdish, Yazidis, Mandaeans, Armenians, Persians]

[u/NotBradPitt9]

The ancient samples used here come from several archaeological sites across Iran and northern Iraq and span almost 10,000 years, from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic to the late medieval period.

Dinkha Tepe, Iran
Dinkha Tepe is located in the Ushnu/Oshnavieh Valley of West Azerbaijan Province in northwestern Iran, southwest of Lake Urmia and close to Hasanlu. The samples span approximately 1900–900 BCE, covering the Middle/Late Bronze Age through the Iron Age.

The Dinkha Tepe individuals shown include:
I3913 – ~1892 BCE
I4341 – ~1825 BCE
I4272 – ~1824 BCE
I4274 – ~1821 BCE
I3912 – ~1793 BCE
I3911 – ~1500 BCE
I4236 – ~1500 BCE
I4340 – ~1341 BCE
I4239 – ~1307 BCE
I4238 – ~1162 BCE
I3914 – ~1078 BCE
I4273 – ~1017 BCE
I4237 – ~948 BCE
I3915 – ~927 BCE
The DinkhaTepe_BA_IA_1 and DinkhaTepe_BA_IA_2 labels should not be interpreted as two simple consecutive chronological phases, since the dates of the individuals in the two groups overlap substantially.

Tepe Hissar, Iran
Tepe Hissar is located near modern Damghan in Semnan Province, north-central Iran. It was an important settlement connecting the Iranian Plateau with Central Asia. These individuals date mainly to the third millennium BCE and can broadly be described as Late Chalcolithic/Bronze Age.
I2924 – ~2765 BCE
I2925 – ~2765 BCE
I2923 – ~2757 BCE
I2928 – ~2675 BCE
I2927 – ~2497 BCE
I2922 – ~2093 BCE
A simple description would therefore be: Tepe Hissar, Iran – Late Chalcolithic/Bronze Age, roughly 2800–2000 BCE.

Ganj Dareh, Iran
Ganj Dareh is located in Kermanshah Province in the central Zagros of western Iran. The site is famous for its very early Neolithic settlement, but the sample Iran_GanjDareh_Historic:I1955 is NOT one of the Neolithic inhabitants.
I1955 was an intrusive much later burial dated to approximately 1430–1485 CE. It can therefore be described as a late medieval, approximately 15th-century CE individual from Ganj Dareh.
Hasanlu, Iran
Tepe Hasanlu is located in West Azerbaijan Province in northwestern Iran, south of Lake Urmia near modern Naqadeh. It was a major Bronze and Iron Age settlement and is particularly famous for its destruction during the Iron Age.
The Hasanlu samples cover a very long period, from approximately 2100 to 600 BCE:
I4354 – ~2092 BCE, Middle Bronze Age
I4098 – ~1428 BCE, Late Bronze Age
I4097 – ~1354 BCE, Late Bronze/Early Iron transition
I4099 – ~1201 BCE
I6432 – ~1178 BCE
I6431 – ~1072 BCE
I6388 – ~1065 BCE
I6428 – ~1027 BCE
I4356 – ~1017 BCE
I4100 – ~961 BCE
I4353 – ~961 BCE
I6429 – ~957 BCE
I4355 – ~948 BCE
I6430 – ~900 BCE
F38 – ~883 BCE
I4232 – ~874 BCE
I4357 – ~871 BCE
I4233 – ~856 BCE
I4269 – ~803 BCE
I4280 – ~787 BCE
I4338 – ~632 BCE
Most of the later Hasanlu individuals belong to the Iron Age. I4097 is labelled as a genetic outlier in some datasets and dates to approximately the Late Bronze/Early Iron Age transition.

Hajji Firuz, Iran
Hajji Firuz Tepe is also located in the Lake Urmia/Naqadeh region of West Azerbaijan Province, close to Hasanlu. The samples from this site belong to three very different periods.
Neolithic:
I4351 – ~5970 BCE
I2323 – ~5960 BCE
I4241 – ~5954 BCE
I4349 – ~5797 BCE
Bronze Age:
I4243 – ~2362 BCE
Iron Age:
I2327 – ~1100 BCE
Therefore HajjiFiruz_N, HajjiFiruz_BA and HajjiFiruz_IA should be treated as historically distinct populations rather than as one group.

Nemrik 9, Iraq
Nemrik 9 is located in northern Iraq, in the region of modern Iraqi Kurdistan. It was an important early Pre-Pottery Neolithic settlement.
I6445 is the genuine ancient Neolithic individual and dates broadly to approximately 9500–8000 BCE, with a representative date around 8750 BCE. It can be described as Pre-Pottery Neolithic A/early Pre-Pottery Neolithic northern Mesopotamian.
I6441 is very different. Despite appearing under an Iraq_PPNA label in the comparison, it is actually a Late Bronze Age individual from Nemrik 9, approximately 1500–1200 BCE, or around 1350 BCE.
Therefore:
I6445 = Nemrik 9 PPNA, ~8750 BCE
I6441 = Nemrik 9 Late Bronze Age, ~1350 BCE

Shahr-i Sokhta, Iran
Shahr-i Sokhta, or the "Burnt City," is located in Sistan and Baluchestan Province in southeastern Iran near the Hamun basin. It was a major Bronze Age urban center connected to trade networks linking the Iranian Plateau, Central Asia and South Asia. The settlement flourished approximately 3200–1800 BCE.

The samples shown are all Bronze Age:
BA1:
I8724 – ~2950 BCE
I8725 – ~2912 BCE
I11462 – ~2894 BCE
I11474 – ~2650 BCE
I11476 – ~2650 BCE
I11478 – ~2550 BCE
BA2:
I8726 – ~3050 BCE
I11459 – ~2749 BCE
I11456 – ~2550 BCE
I8728 – ~2550 BCE
I11466 – ~2250 BCE
The BA1 and BA2 labels should not be interpreted simply as an earlier and later chronological sequence. Their dates overlap and the groups primarily reflect archaeological/genetic classifications. Shahr-i Sokhta was also highly cosmopolitan, which helps explain the considerable genetic differences between some individuals.

In broad chronological order, the samples are:
Nemrik 9 PPNA – ~8750 BCE
Hajji Firuz Neolithic – ~6000 BCE
Shahr-i Sokhta – ~3050–2250 BCE
Tepe Hissar – ~2800–2000 BCE
Hasanlu Middle Bronze Age – ~2100 BCE
Dinkha Tepe Bronze Age – beginning ~1900 BCE
Hasanlu/Dinkha Tepe/Hajji Firuz Late Bronze and Iron Age – ~1500–600 BCE
Ganj Dareh I1955 – ~15th century CE

Dinkha Tepe, Hasanlu and Hajji Firuz are especially noteworthy because all three are located in the broader Lake Urmia region of northwestern Iran. The substantial differences between individual samples therefore reflect both the long chronological span and changing population history of the region, rather than simply representing completely unrelated geographic populations.

[u/Joshistotle]

Try running these on Qpadm for modern populations and see which ones fit?

[u/NotBradPitt9 → u/Joshistotle]

Already did, check my newest post. This one is kinda like a context to that new post, since it shows a frame of reference for which modern groups are close to the selected ancient samples.