I2 came from eastern or south central Europe.  I2a came from same sort of place.   The fate of I2a1 is not tied to that of I2a2.   They may have completely separate histories.  I think that both were carried by the Neolithic - in different directions and possibly at different points in time, by different people, who did not necessarily follow the same path of migration.    I thought that I2a2, with the Mediterranean branch of Neolithic migration, tended to head around the Mediterranean and the tip of Spain and northward to France and Great Britain, leaving distinctive archeology, while other groups followed the Neolithic migration westward from basically the Danube River valley, thence across the great river valleys of Europe.   Nothing about that alone specifies when various subclades originated or when they were carried where they went.   Some of them could also have been early travellers up the river valleys toward France for all I know.    There were still westward migrations at the time of Christ.   However I rather doubt that all of I2a is that young in western Europe.  In fact I'm pretty sure that I2a2 distinctively settled where the Neolithic megastructure people did - along the coast between Ireland and England, having sailed up from Spain. If I2a2 had moved westward at around the time of Christ, it would be a Germanic marker, and it isn't.   If it went westward off the steps in 800 BC it would be a Celtic marker, and it isn't.    Dora ________________________________ From: Bernie Cullen <berniecullen@gmail.com> To: y-dna-haplogroup-i <y-dna-haplogroup-i@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, January 11, 2012 9:19 AM Subject: [yDNAhgI] Are the I2a people in Bosnia the ancestors of the I2a1 people in France? No! As FTDNA I2a (I-P37.2) Project co-administrator I get some questions from our members, and I have decided to start posting some of the questions and answers to the hg I group for your comments etc..--Bernie Question: "I was wondering about one thing.  I found this map: http://www.eupedia.com/europe/origins_haplogroups_europe.shtml#I2 It shows a large concentration of I2a in the area of Bosnia/Herzegovina, Croatia.  I take it that my brother's I2a1 subgroup started in western Europe but was perhaps part of a larger group from the above area before that?" My answer: About the large Dinaric I2a2 group in central and eastern Europe: there are several groups of I2a and none of them are the ancestors of the other, and none is really a subset of the other. (When we get to more recent times and more specific haplogroups like I2a1b1a that kind of thinking makes more sense).