December 11, 2007: Blonds

[Griff]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

When the Vikings came to rape and pillage, you didn't expect them to stick to pillaging...!

I'd like to see a finer resolution map. There were probably viking blonds along the coasts and river systems, but I wonder how much that has diffused over time?

[findpolitics]

Originally Posted by Griff

I'd like to see a finer resolution map. There were probably viking blonds along the coasts and river systems, but I wonder how much that has diffused over time?

Clearly we can see from this map that everyone on the coast line has grey hair.

[Karenv]

Originally Posted by SteveDallas

Do they have one for redheads??

Apparently not. This is one of the original articles by the author:
http://pages.globetrotter.net/peter_...-eye-color.htm

And here is an article: Cavegirls were the first blondes to have more fun:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...058688,00.html

Frost has some interesting articles on the sexual dimorphism of skin, eye and hair color.

[HungLikeJesus]

Originally Posted by Karenv

...
And here is an article: Cavegirls were the first blondes to have more fun:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...058688,00.html

I have that movie, but I haven't watched it yet: http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0060782/

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by Karenv

And here is an article: Cavegirls were the first blondes to have more fun:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...058688,00.html

According to the study, north European women evolved blonde hair and blue eyes at the end of the Ice Age to make them stand out from their rivals at a time of fierce competition for scarce males.

So basically, nothings changed.

I do find fault with the article. IMO, the only prerequisite for a man to want to have sex with a woman is the word "yes".

[ZenGum]

Originally Posted by richlevy

So basically, nothings changed.

I do find fault with the article. IMO, the only prerequisite for a man to want to have sex with a woman is the word "yes".

I didn't find it convincing either.
It maintains the presumptions that women could never hunt, and that the societies were predominantly monogamous.
It ignores the connection between skin colour and hair colour, and that lighter skin is better in low-sunlight climates because it enables more vitamin D to be produced.
Still, the study does point out that European pigmentation is very remarkable compared to the rest of the planet, and seems to have emerged very suddenly and quite recently. That does call for an explanation, and maybe they have found some contributing factors.

[Sundae]

There was a programme on fairly recently re tracing bloodlines back in the UK. I only caught the end of it, but it seemed less people were descended from Viking bloodlines than they (the families) had hoped.

The thing is the English (and to a far lesser extent the rest of the UK) is a mongrel race. To the extent that the description "English Rose" refers more to a strawberries and cream complexion with fair (rather than true blonde) hair. But we're pretty accepting. We are pretty much willing to call anyone successful, brave or accomplished British, despite their heritage. English is trickier - have to be born here as well as all the above.

[King]

There's no way more than half the people in the north of England have naturally blonde hair.

[xoxoxoBruce]

The highest percentage of natural redheads in the world is in Scotland (13%), followed closely by Ireland with 10%. In the US, about 2% of the population are natural redheads.
Are they considered "light haired"?

[Kingswood]

Are these statistics based on the adult population? Including kids can skew the statistics. Some kids start off with blond hair when they are young and then grow out of it.