I18247 Armenia Black Fortress Azeri Woman 23andme

This sample is an 18th-century individual recovered from the Black Fortress (Sev Berd) area near Gyumri in northwestern Armenia. Archaeological context places the burial in the early modern period, when the region was part of the shifting frontier between Persian and Ottoman spheres of influence. Osteological assessment identified the individual as female.

She carried mitochondrial DNA haplogroup K1a4b. Her ethnic breakdown closely resembles that of Azeris and Turks, and it is unlikely for her to be ethnically Armenian, even though her remains were found in Western Armenia.