The overwhelming majority of humans are dark-haired and dark-eyed, yet amongst Europeans other eye and hair colours are commonly found. Why is this?
Europeans
The overwhelming majority of humans are dark-haired and dark-eyed, yet amongst Europeans other eye and hair colours are commonly found. Why is this?
Dux Limitis
Re: Europeans
It's a matter of genetics I suppose. Southern Europeans have brown skin, dark hair and ditto eyes because of the climate. The Germanic peoples generally have blond hair, white skin and blue eyes again mainly because of climate and genetics. And take in account the waves of migration Europe has endured: Huns, White Huns, Alans, Hungarians, Finns, Slavs, Turks, Goths, Celts, Mongols, and Kalmuks and many, many mores. Europe is a melting pot of genetics, ethnicity and racial features.
Originally Posted by A.J.P. Taylor
Peaceful agreement and government by consent are possible only on the basis of ideas common to all parties; and these ideas must spring from habit and from history. Once reason is introduced, every man, every class, every nation becomes a law unto itself; and the only right which reason understands is the right of the stronger. Reason formulates universal principles and is therefore intolerant: there can be only one rational society, one rational nation, ultimately one rational man. Decisions between rival reasons can be made only by force.
Cò am Fear am measg ant-sluaigh,
A mhaireas buan gu bràth?
Chan eil sinn uileadh ach air chuart,
Mar dhìthein buaile fàs,Bheir siantannan na bliadhna sìos,'S nach tog a' ghrian an àird.
Jajem ssoref is m'n korewE goochem mit e wenk, e nar mit e shtompWer niks is, hot kawsones
Civitate
Re: Europeans
When you say "Europeans" do you mean white people?
Life, go easy on me
for more from the wonderful world of Humber Reloaded, just google it!Then I weighed him I said, “Holy ****!” because he weighs 900,000,000,000,000,000 tons. That amazing weight made me say the “S” word.
Under the patronage of imb39
Re: Europeans
Yes, the native population of Europe
Former Chief Technician
Re: Europeans
Climate and nutrition are commonly cited for this. People living in sunless areas tend to lose pigmentation so that they can more readily use scarce sunlight to synthesize vitamin D. Eskimos and some residents of Greenland aren't affected much by this because they get lots of vitamin D from their fish-filled diet. Basically the only people who live near the poles are Eskimos and northern Europeans (including Russians), so that leaves (a subset of) Europeans. Of course, once the northern Europeans get light eyes and hair, so do other Europeans, through intermarriage. Other groups never really had reason for light eyes or hair to become common, I guess.
I suppose the above rationale only really works for skin, though, not hair or eyes. I don't think hair (which is dead) or eyes (which have lots of other stuff to do?) have much to do with vitamin D production. So I don't know, really. I'll have to go with "dumb luck" for now. There doesn't have to be an especially good reason, does there?
Edit:
Well, Middle Easterners and Indians are generally classified as white people too, but mostly they don't have light hair or eyes. Nor do Spaniards, for that matter, who are Europeans. It seems like it's mainly northern Europeans.
Last edited by Simetrical; February 15, 2008 at 02:50 PM.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
