A recent study published on bioRxiv challenges the belief that Europeans had light skin, revealing that about 63% of them had dark skin as recently as 3,000 years ago. Led by Guido Barbujani from the University of Ferrara, the research analyzed the genomes of 348 individuals from 1,700 to 45,000 years ago, finding that lighter skin became more common only around 3,000 years ago. The study highlights significant pigment variations over time, influenced by factors like gene flow and dietary changes. It also references Cheddar Man, an ancient Briton with dark skin, reinforcing the idea of darker pigmentation in early Europeans. Experts advise caution in interpreting these findings.
Questioning the long-standing assumptions about the skin color of Europeans, a new study, published in the preprint bioRxiv database, has uncovered that a significant number of them had dark skin as recently as 3,000 years ago. Led by Guido Barbujani of the University of Ferrara in Italy, the research analyzed the genomes of 348 individuals who lived between 1,700 and 45,000 years ago, revealing that 63 percent of them possessed dark skin, while eight percent exhibited pale skin.
The results imply that light-skinned individuals emerged in Europe only around 3,000 years ago. Even during the Copper and Iron Ages, which occurred roughly 5,000 to 3,000 years ago, around half of the individuals analyzed still had dark or medium skin tones.
“The transition towards lighter skin pigmentation proved to be neither linear in time nor location and was slower than anticipated, with half of the individuals displaying dark or intermediate skin tones well into the Copper and Iron ages,” the study noted.
Importantly, the researchers explored the pigmentation characteristics of ancient Europeans by extracting DNA from their bones and teeth.
“We also found a peak in light eye pigmentation during the Mesolithic era, along with an accelerated change during the expansion of Neolithic farmers across Western Eurasia. However, localized gene flow and admixture processes, or their absence, also significantly influenced these changes,” the study concluded.
Previous theories proposed that modern humans arrived in Europe approximately 45,000 years ago and developed lighter skin in response to low sunlight exposure. As populations increased and agriculture became more prevalent, diets may have contributed less vitamin D, making skin’s ability to synthesize it more advantageous.
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Cheddar Man
Nonetheless, this is not the first time such a theory has been suggested. According to London’s Natural History Museum and University College London, a man known as Cheddar Man, who lived around 10,000 years ago, had brown hair, blue eyes, and dark to black skin. He is thought to be the first modern Briton.
DNA analysis indicated that Cheddar Man’s ancestors migrated to Britain from the Middle East after leaving Africa. Notably, the remains of Cheddar Man were discovered in 1903 in a cave in south-west England, where they had rested for 10,000 years.
Despite the findings from Mr. Barbujani’s team, experts caution that these results should be regarded with skepticism, as it is impossible to verify whether predictions based on contemporary European populations accurately represent ancient individuals.