“Unlocking the Past: New Discoveries Reveal That Europe’s Ancient Inhabitants Were Surprisingly Dark-Skinned!”
Scientists have discovered that the genes that result in lighter skin, eyes, and hair emerged among early Europeans starting around 14,000 years ago, during the late stages of the Paleolithic period, or “Old Stone Age.” But a new study, published in bioRxiv, analyzed 348 samples of ancient DNA from archaeological sites across 34 countries in Western Europe and Asia, and found that these genes signifying lighter complexion were relatively sporadic until just 3,000 years ago.
Tom BjörklundIllustration of a dark-skinned Scandinavian girl based on DNA found on her 5,700-year-old piece of chewing gum.
Analysis of samples originating from between the Copper Age (around 5,000 years ago) and the Iron Age (roughly 3,000 years ago) found that only about half of the people in question had light or pale skin tones. And in some regions, darker complexions were more prominent until even more recently.
But how and why exactly did skin tones change in prehistoric and ancient Europe?
Why Ancient Eurasians Eventually Evolved To Have Lighter Skin
Modern humans migrated from Africa to Europe and Asia between 60,000 and 70,000 years ago, and their features gradually changed over time.
One of the biggest reasons humans genetically evolved to have lighter skin was due to the amount of ultraviolet (UV) light exposure they were getting in these new regions. With less UV light exposure in the more northern regions, humans adapted to have paler skin that could better absorb UV light to produce vitamin D.
Royal Pavilion & Museums; Brighton & HoveThe face of a Cro-Magnon man, a group that succeeded the Neanderthals in Europe and lived between 30,000 and 10,000 years ago.
But this happened much later in the historical timeline than previously believed, which suggests that there were additional factors at play, like diet.
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