Proto-Lowland East Cushitic likely began diverging into separate languages around 3,000–4,000 years ago (roughly 1000–2000 BCE), driven in part by the geographic separation of populations that later developed into proto-Oromo (inland highlands and lowlands) and proto-Somali (Horn coastal and semi-arid regions.
It happens to fit neatly between E-Y17859 and E-BY68781. With further testing, this could change, but it does not alter the fact that the divergence occurred a long time ago.
