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New studies have found that ancient Europeans tend to have dark skin, dark hair and dark eyes to the Iron Age. The bones of a cheddar man (whose reconstruction is depicted here) reveal that he lived in the UK about 10,000 years ago. This reconstruction shows its likely dark skin. | Credit: Justin Talis via Getty Images
Most prehistoric Europeans had dark skin, hair and eyes well in the Iron Age, about 3000 years ago, were discovering new studies.
Scientists have found that genes that cause skinnier skin, hair and eyes appear among the early Europeans only about 14,000 years ago, during the late stages of the Paleolithic period – also known as the “Old Stone Age.” But these light characteristics were only sporadic to relatively recently, said senior study author of the study Sylvia giroGenetic at the University of Ferrara in Italy.
Lighter skin may have had an evolutionary advantage for Europeans because it allowed people to synthesize more Vitamin D – Necessary for healthy bones, teeth and muscles – in greater sunlight in Europe. But for example, the slower color of the eyes – blue or green – did not seem to have had Main evolutionary advantagesAnd so its appearance may have been led by chance or sexual selection, Ghirotto told Live Science in an email.
Ghirotto and her colleagues analyzed 348 samples from ancient DNA from archaeological sites in 34 countries in Western Europe and Asia, according to studies published on February 12 at BIORXIV preliminary serverWhich has not been reviewed.
The oldest, 45,000 years ago, was from Ust’-Ishim individual discovered in 2008 in the area of the Irtysh River in Western Siberia; and another high quality DNA sample comes from approximately 9,000-year-old SF12 individual from Sweden.
But many of the older samples were poorly degraded and therefore the researchers evaluated the pigmentation of these individuals, using a “probable conclusion for the phenotype” and Hirisplex-S systemwhich can predict the color of the eyes, hair and skin from incomplete DNA sample.
Related: Nearly 170 genes determine the color of hair, skin and eyes, reveals a CRISPR study
Outside Africa
Paleoanthropologists think of the first Homo sapiens Has been steadily arrived in Europe between 50,000 and 60,000 years agoWhich meant they were not so distant from their modern human ancestors in Africa. As a result, early Europeans initially had only genetics For dark skin, hair and eyes that rely on hundreds of interconnected genes, Ghirotto said.
Even after the lightweight features appeared in Europe about 14,000 years ago, however, they appeared sporadically only in individuals until relatively recent times – about 3,000 years ago – when they became widespread, she said.
The new study showed that the frequency of people with dark skin is still high in parts of Europe to the copper age (also known as the Chalcolithic period, which begins about 5,000 years ago in Europe), and in some areas dark skin often appears to the latest, Ghirotto said.
Eurasia maps showing the distribution of skin pigmentation over time, from paleolithic to the Iron Age. The skin color is grouped into three categories: dark, intermediate and light. | Credit: Perretti et al, 2025, Biorxiv
Arise
Researchers have found that light eyes appear among people in Northern and Western Europe between 14,000 and 4,000 years old, although dark hair and dark skin are still dominant at the time. (However, there are outdated. A genetic analysis of 2024 showed a 1-year-old boy who lived in Europe about 17,000 years ago dark skin, dark hair and blue eyes.)
The genetic base for the lighter skin seemed to have appeared in Sweden at about the same time as a slight eyes, but initially it remained relatively rare, Ghirotto said.
Researchers also report a statistical “jump” in the frequency of light color of the eyes at this time, suggesting that blue or green eyes are more common at this time than earlier or later.
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Carles Lalueza FoxPaleogenets at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology in Barcelona, is an expert in early European pigmentation But he does not participate in the latest study.
It was a “surprise” to learn that some European individuals have inherited genes for smaller pigmentation to the Iron Age, which has recently been genetically, he told Live Science in an email.
While the new research graphics The emergence of features such as lighter skin, hair and eyes, the reasons these features could turn into evolutionary The advantage is not yet well understood, he added.