A new study has challenged the common belief that Europeans have always had light skin. According to research published in the bioRxiv database, most Europeans had dark skin until around 3,000 years ago. The study was conducted by Guido Barbujani from the University of Ferrara in Italy. It examined the DNA of 348 ancient individuals who lived between 1,700 and 45,000 years ago. The findings revealed that 63 percent of these people had dark skin, while only eight percent had pale skin.

Light skin became common later

The study suggests that light skin became more common in Europe much later than previously thought. Even during the Copper and Iron Ages, which were between 5,000 and 3,000 years ago, about half of the people still had dark or medium skin tones.

"The shift towards lighter pigmentations turned out to be all but linear in time and place and slower than expected, with half of the individuals showing dark or intermediate skin colours well into the Copper and Iron ages," the study highlighted.

Researchers studied ancient European skin pigmentation by analysing DNA taken from bones and teeth. This helped them understand how skin colour changed over thousands of years.

The study also found that people in the Mesolithic period (around 10,000 years ago) often had light-colored eyes. A major shift in skin colour happened when farming spread across Western Eurasia. Changes in population movement, genetic mixing, and environmental factors played a big role in this transformation.

Past theories on skin colour

Earlier theories suggested that humans developed lighter skin to survive in areas with low sunlight. Scientists believe that as people moved to Europe around 45,000 years ago, they needed to produce more vitamin D. Since sunlight helps the body make vitamin D, people with lighter skin might have had an advantage in regions with less sunlight.

Cheddar Man: An example of dark-skinned Europeans

This is not the first time researchers have found evidence of dark-skinned ancient Europeans. One of the most famous examples is Cheddar Man, who lived in Britain around 10,000 years ago. According to the Natural History Museum in London and University College London, Cheddar Man had brown hair, blue eyes, and dark to black skin. His skeleton was found in a cave in southwest England in 1903.

DNA tests revealed that Cheddar Man’s ancestors came from Africa and travelled to Britain through the Middle East. His case supports the idea that early Europeans had dark skin before genetic changes led to lighter skin tones.

Even with these findings, some experts believe that more research is needed. There is no way to confirm if these DNA predictions are completely accurate. Scientists still need to study how ancient European populations interacted and mixed over time to fully understand skin colour changes.

While the new study provides strong evidence, researchers agree that the history of human pigmentation is complex and influenced by many factors.

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