According to a paper published in the latest issue of the journal Contemporary Biology, scientists at the University of Tartu in Estonia and the University of Turin in Italy have found that the blue eyes of Today's Europeans originate from hunter-gatherers, their height comes from Asian nomads, and their blonde hair originates from Neolithic farmers in Anatolia, Turkey.
Schematic diagram of the spread of steppe nomadic peoples between 4000 and 1000 BC.
Dr Davide Marnetto, who led the study, reportedly said the researchers explored how the physiology and appearance of contemporary Europeans were influenced by ancient genes, including which historical groups contributed to higher or lower heart disease rates, cholesterol and body mass index (BMI).
Today's Europeans have blue eyes derived from hunter-gatherers, height from Asian nomads, and blond hair from Neolithic farmers in Anatolia, Turkey.
Much of the genetic makeup of contemporary Europeans is made up of mixed races over the past 10,000 years, including stone age local hunter-gatherers, farmers from Anatolia, Turkey, and Asian nomadic peoples (or Pontiac steppe herders), which include parts of present-day Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, and Kazakhstan.
European hunter-gatherers, Anatolian farmers, steppe herders, and siberian paleoanthroptic populations have all been separated for thousands of years and have evolved in different directions. But new research suggests that when they finally came together, their DNA or genome came into contact, mixing the genetic variants that make up each of their traits.
Researchers explore how the physiology and appearance of contemporary Europeans are influenced by ancient genes.
Most features associated with European hunter-gatherers include brown or black hair, blue eyes, a higher heart rate, lower cholesterol, and a higher BMI.
Features associated with Anatolian Neolithic farmers include blonde hair, blue eyes, a lower heart rate, and a lower BMI.
Europeans owe their height to steppe herders, but their genes are also responsible for higher cholesterol.
Characteristics associated with the Siberian population include black hair, green eyes, and a high heart rate.
One of the authors of the paper, Professor Luca Pagani of the University of Padua in Italy, said that the results of the study showed that there were enough differences in the ancient population that formed contemporary Europeans to contribute their own characteristics to the physiology and appearance of contemporary people.
Text/Nandu reporter Chen Lin