Echoes of Byzantine Anatolia

The individuals sampled from Stratonikeia and Lagina (Muğla), the west church at Stratonikeia, the Basilica at Iznik (Marmara) and the Ilıpınar cemetery (Orhangazi, Bursa) span a long arc of local history: 262 CE through to 1400 CE. Archaeological contexts — church floors, basilica burial zones and associated funerary deposits — anchor these remains within Byzantine religious and civic landscapes. Stratonikeia and Lagina, located in the Carian-Aegean hinterland, preserve Late Antique to medieval occupation layers; Iznik (ancient Nicaea) is a documented urban and ecclesiastical center from Late Antiquity onward; Ilıpınar sits in the Marmara plains that saw population shifts in the early medieval centuries.

Archaeological data indicates continuity of Christian funerary practice in many contexts, with reuse of older monumental spaces in the medieval period. Limited evidence suggests both local continuity and periodic influxes of people tied to trade, military movement, and administrative reorganization under successive Byzantine authorities. The material record — building phases, grave goods, and stratigraphy — points to a region where local Anatolian traditions blended with Mediterranean and Balkan influences.

Given the modest sample size (14 individuals) and uneven preservation, conclusions about broader population origins must remain provisional. Still, these remains illuminate how communities were embedded in the shifting political, economic and religious networks of Byzantine Anatolia.

Fourteen individuals were sampled across Aegean and Marmara sites dated between 262 and 1400 CE. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups are reported for a subset: H (3), U (3), X (2), J (1), and H5f (1). These lineages are broadly common in Europe and western Eurasia and can reflect long-term regional continuity in Anatolia as well as gene-flow from Mediterranean and Balkan networks. Importantly, the mtDNA counts represent at most a subset of the 14 individuals (10 reported mtDNA calls), so population-level inferences must be cautious.

No consistent Y-DNA signature is reported in the provided dataset; either Y-chromosome data were not recovered at scale or results are too heterogeneous to summarize. This absence means we cannot characterize paternal line continuity or incoming male-mediated gene flow from specific regions.

Genetic signals seen here are compatible with an Anatolian population that retained local maternal lineages while participating in wider Mediterranean and Balkan genetic networks during the Byzantine period. However, with only 14 samples and limited Y-DNA resolution, any claims about migrations, replacement, or fine-scale ancestry structure remain preliminary. Additional sampling, deeper genomic coverage, and integration with isotopic and archaeological evidence are essential to resolve whether observed haplogroups reflect local continuity, elite mobility, or episodic immigration.