Ancient mtDNA Analysis and the Origin of the Guanches

Nicole Maca-Meyer et al.

European Journal of Human Genetics
(advance online publication 24 September 2003)

The prehistoric colonisation of the Canary Islands by the Guanches (native Canarians) woke up great expectation about their origin, since the Europeans conquest of the Archipelago. Here, we report mitochondrial DNA analysis (HVRI sequences and RFLPs) of aborigine remains around 1000 years old. The sequences retrieved show that the Guanches possessed U6b1 lineages that are in the present day Canarian population, but not in Africans. In turn, U6b, the phylogenetically closest ancestor found in Africa, is not present in the Canary Islands. Comparisons with other populations relate the Guanches with the actual inhabitants of the Archipelago and with Moroccan Berbers. This shows that, despite the continuous changes suffered by the population (Spanish colonisation, slave trade), aboriginal mtDNA lineages constitute a considerable proportion of the Canarian gene pool. Although the Berbers are the most probable ancestors of the Guanches, it is deduced that important human movements have reshaped Northwest Africa after the migratory wave to the Canary Islands.

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A Baluchi of Iranian Type

The very prominent high-rooted leptorrhine convex nose and the very orthognathous, long and narrow face are diagnostic of the Iranian type of the Caucasoid race.

Face
Profile

Korean Origins

Human Genetics (Online First)

Y-chromosomal DNA haplogroups and their implications for the dual origins of the Koreans

Han-Jun Jin et al.

We have analyzed eight Y-chromosomal binary markers (YAP, RPS4Y711, M9, M175, LINE1, SRY+465, 47z, and M95) and three Y-STR markers (DYS390, DYS391, and DYS393) in 738 males from 11 ethnic groups in east Asia in order to study the male lineage history of Korea. Haplogroup DE-YAP was found at a high frequency only in Japan but was also present at low frequencies in northeast Asia, including 2.5% in Korea, suggesting a northern origin for these chromosomes. Haplogroup C-RPS4Y711 was present in Korea and Manchuria at moderate frequencies: higher than in populations from southeast Asia, but lower than those in the northeast, which may imply a northern Asian expansion of these lineages, perhaps from Mongolia or Siberia. The major Y-chromosomal expansions in east Asia were those of haplogroup O-M175 (and its sublineages). This haplogroup is likely to have originated in southern east Asia and subsequently expanded to all of east Asia. The moderate frequency of one sublineage in the Koreans, haplogroup O-LINE1 (12.5%), could be a result of interaction with Chinese populations. The age of another sublineage, haplogroup O-SRY+465, and Y-STR haplotype diversity provide evidence for relatively recent male migration, originally from China, through Korea into Japan. In conclusion, the distribution pattern of Y-chromosomal haplogroups reveals the complex origin of the Koreans, resulting from genetic contributions involving the northern Asian settlement and range expansions mostly from southern-to-northern China.

Link (requires access)

A craniometric investigation of the Bronze Age settlement of Xinjiang

American Journal of Physical Anthropology (Early View)

Horse-mounted invaders from the Russo-Kazakh steppe or agricultural colonists from western Central Asia? A craniometric investigation of the Bronze Age settlement of Xinjiang

Brian E. Hemphill, J.P. Mallory

Numerous Bronze Age cemeteries in the oases surrounding the Täklamakan Desert of the Tarim Basin in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, western China, have yielded both mummified and skeletal human remains. A dearth of local antecedents, coupled with woolen textiles and the apparent Western physical appearance of the population, raised questions as to where these people came from. Two hypotheses have been offered by archaeologists to account for the origins of Bronze Age populations of the Tarim Basin. These are the steppe hypothesis and the Bactrian oasis hypothesis. Eight craniometric variables from 25 Aeneolithic and Bronze Age samples, comprising 1,353 adults from the Tarim Basin, the Russo-Kazakh steppe, southern China, Central Asia, Iran, and the Indus Valley, are compared to test which, if either, of these hypotheses are supported by the pattern of phenetic affinities possessed by Bronze Age inhabitants of the Tarim Basin. Craniometric differences between samples are compared with Mahalanobis generalized distance (d2), and patterns of phenetic affinity are assessed with two types of cluster analysis (the weighted pair average linkage method and the neighbor-joining method), multidimensional scaling, and principal coordinates analysis. Results obtained by this analysis provide little support for either the steppe hypothesis or the Bactrian oasis hypothesis. Rather, the pattern of phenetic affinities manifested by Bronze Age inhabitants of the Tarim Basin suggests the presence of a population of unknown origin within the Tarim Basin during the early Bronze Age. After 1200 B.C., this population experienced significant gene flow from highland populations of the Pamirs and Ferghana Valley. These highland populations may include those who later became known as the Saka and who may have served as middlemen facilitating contacts between East (Tarim Basin, China) and West (Bactria, Uzbekistan) along what later became known as the Great Silk Road.

...

It appears that neither Han Chinese nor steppe populations played any detectable role in the initial establishment or subsequent interregional biological interactions of Bronze Age Tarim Basin populations.

...

This research confirms that populations from the urban centers of the Oxus civilization of Bactria played a role in the population history of the Bronze Age inhabitants of the Tarim Basin. Yet these Bactrian populations were not the direct, early colonizers envisioned by advocates of the Bactrian oasis hypothesis (Barber, [1999]). None of the analyses document the immediate and profoundly close affinities between colonizers and the colonized expected if the Tarim Basin experienced substantial direct settlement by Bactrian agriculturalists.

...

This study confirms the assertion of Han ([1998]) that the occupants of Alwighul and Krorän are not derived from proto-European steppe populations, but share closest affinities with Eastern Mediterranean populations. Further, the results demonstrate that such Eastern Mediterraneans may also be found at the urban centers of the Oxus civilization located in the north Bactrian oasis to the west. Affinities are especially close between Krorän, the latest of the Xinjiang samples, and Sapalli, the earliest of the Bactrian samples, while Alwighul and later samples from Bactria exhibit more distant phenetic affinities. This pattern may reflect a possible major shift in interregional contacts in Central Asia in the early centuries of the second millennium B.C.

Link (requires access)

Update:

Some data on the people from the earliest cemetary of Qäwrighul (2300-1430 B.C.):

Males had skulls 183mm long and 137.9mm wide (mesocranic, CI=75.4)
They were broad-faced (bizygomatic 136.2, upper facial height 66.5, UFI=48.8)
The had rather short mesorrhine noses (50.9x26.2mm).

A Mosaic Origin of Modern Human Diversity

Am. J. Hum. Genet., 73:000, 2003

Haplotypes in the Dystrophin DNA Segment Point to a Mosaic Origin of Modern Human Diversity

Ewa Zitkiewicz et al.

Although Africa has played a central role in human evolutionary history, certain studies have suggested that not all contemporary human genetic diversity is of recent African origin. We investigated 35 simple polymorphic sites and one Tn microsatellite in an 8-kb segment of the dystrophin gene. We found 86 haplotypes in 1,343 chromosomes from around the world. Although a classical out-of-Africa topology was observed in trees based on the variant frequencies, the tree of haplotype sequences reveals three lineages accounting for present-day diversity. The proportion of new recombinants and the diversity of the Tn microsatellite were used to estimate the age of haplotype lineages and the time of colonization events. The lineage that underwent the great expansion originated in Africa prior to the Upper Paleolithic (27,000-56,000 years ago). A second group, of structurally distinct haplotypes that occupy a central position on the tree, has never left Africa. The third lineage is represented by the haplotype that lies closest to the root, is virtually absent in Africa, and appears older than the recent out-of-Africa expansion. We propose that this lineage could have left Africa before the expansion (as early as 160,000 years ago) and admixed, outside of Africa, with the expanding lineage. Contemporary human diversity, although dominated by the recently expanded African lineage, thus represents a mosaic of different contributions.

Link (requires access)

Racial Anthropology Discussion Group

The comment box should be used to comment on the blog entries. Discussion can of course occasionally touch upon other subjects, but this is Dienekes' Anthropology Blog and not a general purpose discussion forum. If you want to say something not closely related to the blog entries, please make use of the Racial Anthropology Discussion Group.

Arthur Kemp takes an Afrocentric turn

I have often commented that Nordicism and Afrocentrism are two sides of the same coin. Now Arthur Kemp, the Web's most popular (*) white nationalist historian has finally resorted to openly using Afrocentric authors in support of his thesis that "black slaves" caused the downfall of Greek civilization.

This time, Arthur Kemp has used the writings of Spanish geneticist Antonio Arnaiz-Villena to support his theory that Greeks mixed with Sub-Saharan slaves. This is what world-leading geneticists Neil Risch from Stanford U., Alberto Piazza from the University of Torino and L. L. Cavalli-Sforza also from Stanford had to say on the interpretations of Arnaiz-Villena based on the HLA-DRB1 marker [1]:

Even a cursory look at the paper's diagrams and trees immediately indicates that the authors make some extraordinary claims. They used a single genetic marker, HLA DRB1, for their analysis to construct a genealogical tree and map of 28 populations from Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Japan. Using results from the analysis of a single marker, particularly one likely to have undergone selection, for the purpose of reconstructing genealogies is unreliable and unacceptable practice in population genetics.

The limitations are made evident by the authors' extraordinary observations that Greeks are very similar to Ethiopians and east Africans but very distant from other south Europeans; and that the Japanese are nearly identical to west and south Africans. It is surprising that the authors were not puzzled by these anomalous results, which contradict history, geography, anthropology and all prior population-genetic studies of these groups. Surely the ordinary process of refereeing would have saved the field from this dispute.

Not only doesn't Arthur Kemp take the criticism of these scientists to consideration, but he doesn't even bother to see who the people who wrote this study are and what they represent.

The fact that the study was co-written by a number of "Macedonian" [2] authors and is used as anti-Greek propaganda by nationalist sites from the Former Yugoslavia of Macedonia obviously flew right over Mr. Kemp's head. But not, Arthur Kemp proudly uses sources from the FYRO Macedonia neglecting that these are likely to play this study for political interest as they do.

But let's even ignore the fact that this study is written by FYROM scientists and used for propaganda purposes. Who is Arnaiz-Villena and what does he believe in?

In his own words, Arnaiz-Villena is "forced to admit the existence of Negro pharaohs and the origin of the Egyptians among the black Africans of the Upper Nile".

Does supposed white nationalist Arthur Kemp who thinks that Egypt was a Nordic Desert Empire take seriously the "scientific work" of an individual who believes in black Egyptians and black pharaohs?"

I guess if he wants to attack Greeks, he'll disregard all the evidence against this study being politically motivated, he'll disregard the expert opinion of top scientists criticizing the use of the HLA-DRB1 locus, he'll disregard the fact that it's written by an Afrocentric sympathizer all in the interest of proving his theory which he can't prove in any other way because it just isn't true.

(*) The fact that Arthur Kemp is the most popular white nationalist historical author on the Web speaks volumes about the current state of white nationalist historical "scholarship"

[1] Nature 415, 115 (10 January 2002); doi:10.1038/415115b
[2] Greece and the FYRO Macedonia have been in disagreement over the use of the ethnonym of Macedonia. In short, the nationalist "Macedonians" of the FYROM want to "liberate" the Greek province of Macedonia, and annex it to their own state to create the Greater Macedonia. With this goal in mind, they systematically deny the Greekness of the population of Greek Macedonia. See, e.g., the map in the United Macedonians site which includes both the present-day state of FYROM and Greek Macedonia as one state.

Mongoloid mtDNA component in Russians

Annals of Human Genetics (2001), 65:63-78

Mitochondrial DNA variability in Russians and Ukrainians: Implication to the origin of the Eastern Slavs

B. A. MALYARCHUK et al.

"Taking into account the data of Orekhov et al.
(1999), one should conclude that the Mongoloid
admixture in Russians appears to be insignifcant
(less than 3.0%) and represented by haplogroups
C and Z sequences. The presence of the Saamispecific
haplogroup Z, as well as subgroup U5b1
sequences in the mitochondrial gene pool of
Russians, we consider as a consequence of local
Finno±Ugric tribes assimilation by Slavs during
their movement to the North of eastern Europe.
The presence of Asian-specific components, such
as haplogroup C sequences, in the mitochondrial
gene pool of Russians may be explained by their
complicated ethnic history, including long-lasting
interactions with Asians. However, in the
study of mtDNA sequences only the female
lineages are taken into account, whereas
Mongoloid morphological traits in the Russians,
revealed by anthropologists (Alekseeva, 1973),
might have been derived from male migrants."

Cross-cultural evaluation of predicted associations between race and behavior

Evolution and Human Behavior
Volume 24, Issue 5 , September 2003, Pages 357-364

Cross-cultural evaluation of predicted associations between race and behavior

Peter N. Peregrine et al.

Abstract

Rushton argues that much variation in human behavior is explained by membership in one of only three genetic groups or "races" ("Negroids," "Caucasoids," and "Mongoloids"). Using previously coded data on the 186 society Standard Cross-Cultural Sample, we find no statistical support for the predicted associations between "race" and behavior.

...

Table 2 summarizes our results. A glance at Table 2 makes it clear that Rushton's predictions do not find much support, regardless of how "race" is operationalized. Indeed, of the 78 correlations in Table 2, only 2 are statistically significant (at less than or equal to the .05 level) in the predicted direction. This is no more confirming a set of results than one would expect by chance. Even if we look at the direction of the correlations, Rushton's predictions are not supported. More of the correlations are in the opposite direction (45 of 78) than in the predicted direction. Rushton's predictions clearly fail our cross-cultural evaluation.

Facial attractiveness predicts longevity

Evolution and Human Behavior
Volume 24, Issue 5 , September 2003, Pages 351-356

Facial attractiveness predicts longevity

Joshua J. A. Henderson et al.

Abstract

In the current investigation, 20 undergraduate students rated 50 high school yearbook photographs from the 1920s on two measures, attractiveness and perceived health. These measures were then correlated with each other and with the photographed subjects' longevity. Facial attractiveness was found to predict future longevity, but perceived health did not. The results are discussed in terms of sexual selection theory.

Link (requires access)

Multiple Origins of Ashkenazi Levites

Am. J. Hum. Genet., 73:000, 2003

Multiple Origins of Ashkenazi Levites: Y Chromosome Evidence for Both Near Eastern and European Ancestries

Doron M. Behar et al.

Previous Y chromosome studies have shown that the Cohanim, a paternally inherited Jewish priestly caste, predominantly share a recent common ancestry irrespective of the geographically defined post-Diaspora community to which they belong, a finding consistent with common Jewish origins in the Near East. In contrast, the Levites, another paternally inherited Jewish caste, display evidence for multiple recent origins, with Ashkenazi Levites having a high frequency of a distinctive, non–Near Eastern haplogroup. Here, we show that the Ashkenazi Levite microsatellite haplotypes within this haplogroup are extremely tightly clustered, with an inferred common ancestor within the past 2,000 years. Comparisons with other Jewish and non-Jewish groups suggest that a founding event, probably involving one or very few European men occurring at a time close to the initial formation and settlement of the Ashkenazi community, is the most likely explanation for the presence of this distinctive haplogroup found today in >50% of Ashkenazi Levites.

Link (requires access)

Shift from Polygyny to Monogamy

J Mol Evol. 2003 Jul;57(1):85-97.

A recent shift from polygyny to monogamy in humans is suggested by the analysis of worldwide Y-chromosome diversity.

Dupanloup I, Pereira L, Bertorelle G, Calafell F, Prata MJ, Amorim A, Barbujani G.

Dipartimento di Biologia, Universita di Ferrara, via L. Borsari 46, 1-44100 Ferrara, Italy.

Molecular genetic data contain information on the history of populations. Evidence of prehistoric demographic expansions has been detected in the mitochondrial diversity of most human populations and in a Y-chromosome STR analysis, but not in a previous study of 11 Y-chromosome SNPs in Europeans. In this paper, we show that mismatch distributions and tests of mutation/drift equilibrium based on up to 166 Y-chromosome SNPs, in 46 samples from all continents, also fail to support an increase of the male effective population size. Computer simulations show that the low nuclear versus mitochondrial mutation rates cannot explain these results. However, ascertainment bias, i.e., when only highly variable SNP sites are typed, may be concealing any Y SNPs evidence for a recent, but not an ancient, increase in male effective population sizes. The results of our SNP analyses can be reconciled with the expansion of male effective population sizes inferred from STR loci, and with mitochondrial evidence, by admitting that humans were essentially polygynous during much of their history. As a consequence, until recently only a few men may have contributed a large fraction of the Y-chromosome pool at every generation. The number of breeding males may have increased, and the variance of their reproductive success may have decreased, through a recent shift from polygyny to monogamy, which is supported by ethnological data and possibly accompanied the shift from mobile to sedentary communities.

Regional isolation in the Balkan region: An analysis of craniofacial variation

American Journal of Physical Anthropology

Regional isolation in the Balkan region: An analysis of craniofacial variation

Ann H. Ross

Published Online: 20 Aug 2003
DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.10339

Abstract

Biological variation is investigated among contemporary Croatians, Bosnians, American whites, and other multitemporal Balkan populations (World War II Croatians, Macedonians, and Greeks) via multivariate statistics and distance measures of the craniofacial complex. This study demonstrates that there is considerable variation among groups of European ancestry. Bosnians and Croatians who are thought to be relatively homogenous and historically to originate from the same Slav ancestry show local variations. While environmental plasticity has been used to explain cranial changes among human groups, it does not adequately explain the variation observed between Bosnians and Croatians. It is an oversimplification to exclusively attribute the vast range of variability observed among local as well as geographic populations to environmental adaptations.

...

The recent Balkan samples utilized in this study derive from several sources and time periods, and are composed only of male individuals. The Bosnian data total 101, are casualties from the recent war, and are from the northwestern border with Croatia and along the eastern border with Serbia. These individuals are stored at the Komemorativni Centar in Tuzla, Bosnia. The contemporary Croatian cranial samples (N = 53) are also from the recent war and are from the eastern, western, and southern regions of Croatia. The World War II (WWII) Croatian cranial sample (Croat45), curated in the Department of Forensic Pathology at the University of Zagreb (Croatia), totals 23 individuals of unknown provenience. The Greek (N = 18) and Macedonian (N = 8) samples are from the Von Luschan Collection, curated at the American Museum of Natural History. Specific information regarding the provenience of the Greek and Macedonian specimens is limited, however. Generally, all that is known is the location and date of acquisition of the remains. The Greek sample is from a modern Greek cemetery in Adalia (present-day city of Antalya, Turkey). The Macedonian sample is from the region of Yanitsa. The American white data were obtained from the Forensic Data Bank housed at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (Ousley and Jantz, [1997]). The American white sample is comprised of individuals derived from forensic cases, and donated skeletal materials that were reported by a range of academic and research institutions and forensic laboratories around the US. The American white sample used in this investigation totals 151 males. Sample composition is presented in Table 1.

...

D2 values are presented in Table 4. It is evident that the populations that are furthest removed from the rest are Macedonians and Greeks. Among the recent Balkan populations, Bosnians are closer to WWII Croatians than to contemporary Croatians. Interestingly, American whites are closest to Greeks, and then to Macedonians, WWII Croatians, and Croatians, followed by Bosnians. Greeks and Macedonians are not significantly different.

...

The plot of CAN1 and CAN2 using transformed shape variables shows American whites as having long, narrow, and high cranial vaults with narrow faces. Greeks and Macedonians have long and narrow vaults with narrow faces, but contrast with American whites in that they have very low cranial vaults. Croatians, by contrast, have broad, short, and high cranial vaults, and broad faces. Bosnians and WWII Croatians have relatively broad, short, and low cranial vaults. Conversely, contemporary Croatians show the highest cranial vaults in contrast to all other groups.

...

Traditionally, people of European ancestry are lumped into a general category of "white" for typological or classification purposes. The results show that American whites differ strongly from Croatian, Bosnians, and other Balkan populations. The cranial difference between American whites and the European groups suggests that identification criteria based on American whites (e.g., discriminant functions) should not be broadly applied to Balkan groups or other groups of European ancestry.

Link (requires access)

The secular rise in IQ: Giving heterosis a closer look

Intelligence
Received 15 April 2001; revised 27 February 2003; accepted 13 May 2003. ; Available online 23 July 2003.

The secular rise in IQ: Giving heterosis a closer look

Michael A. Mingroni

School of Education-Willard Hall, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA

Abstract

Although most discussions today start from the assumption that the secular rise in IQ must be environmental in origin, three reasons warrant giving the genetic phenomenon heterosis a closer look as a potential cause. First, it easily accounts for both the high heritability and low shared environmental effects seen in IQ, findings that are difficult to reconcile with environmental hypotheses. Second, numerous other highly heritable traits, both physical as well as psychological, have also undergone large secular changes in parallel with IQ, which is consistent with the occurrence of broad-based genetic change like heterosis. And third, a heterosis hypothesis for the trend can be tested in several straightforward ways. The paper also provides a hypothetical example, based on data from a real population, of how heterosis can result from demographic changes like those that have taken place throughout the developed world in recent history and shows that under certain conditions, even a small demographic change could cause large genetically based phenotypic changes.

Link (requires access)

Greece takes least refugees in EU

Greece ranked last in the European Union last year in terms of the protection it offered refugees seeking asylum within its borders, with only 1.1 percent of applicants granted refugee or humanitarian status as compared to an EU average of 21.1 percent, according to a report released by the Athens office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) yesterday.

Last year, 5,664 refugees applied for asylum in Greece which ranked 12th in terms of the number of claims made, with the UK, Germany and France receiving the largest numbers of applications.

Iraqis accounted for the largest group of applicants in Greece in 2002 — representing 45 percent of all claims. Of these, just 1 percent were granted protection in Greece compared to an average of 47.7 percent among other EU states.

“This means that genuine refugees may be left without international protection and be at risk of forcible return to their country of origin with possible tragic consequences for their lives,” the UNHCR’s acting representative in Greece, Bart Leerschool, noted.

However, the UNHCR’s Athens office said it had received assurances from the Greek government that no Iraqis (including rejected asylum seekers) will be deported, in accordance with a UNHCR global moratorium on forced returns to Iraq.

A crackdown on terrorism in Greece may have contributed to Greece’s exceptionally low refugee eligibility rate, Leerschool added. “The UNHCR... appreciates the legitimate interest of states, including Greece, to combat terrorism. However, terrorism will never by combated by refusing protection to real refugees, who are themselves victims, not perpetrators, of human rights violations,” he said.

Link

Hair Color Sales: the Biological Constraints

In previous posts, I first showed that light hair dyes outsell dark hair dyes not because women "want to be blondes" but because there are more dark-haired women. Then, I demonstrated that the hair dyeing business has an interest in promoting light hair sales, since there is a larger customer base of natural brunets than blonds.

But, there is yet another reason why women lighten their hair that is related to the biology of human hair.

It is well-known that in nature, except in those people who are pure lights or pure darks, hair color varies along its length. The roots are naturally darker, and the edges are naturally lighter. This effect becomes more pronounced when hair is exposed to the sun. If in doubt, think that you've probably heard of women "lightening their edges", but you've never heard of women "lightening their roots". This is because hair that is darker at the edges and lighter at the roots is never found in nature.

Hair dye sales don't prove (as I have shown) that there is a preference for light hair. But, let's even concede -for the sake of argument- that the DARK->LIGHT transition is more frequent than the LIGHT->DARK transition. This would seem to indicate (if we further ignore the marketing aspect of the hair dyeing business), that light hair is preferred to dark. But is this the case?

The answer is negative, and this is due to the differential pigmentation of hair along its length. Now, the decision to change one's hair color involves two factors:

1. Desire to have a different hair color
2. Effort required to maintain the different hair color

If we can prove that it is more difficult for a blonde to maintain dark hair than for a brunette to maintain light hair, then we will have essentially shown that women prefer lightening their hair, rather than darkening it, not because there is some biological urge to do so, but because it takes less effort.

When a women lightens her hair, then it will eventually look "bad", due to the fact that it's roots will become darker and the result will eventually look unnatural. This is also why women don't dye their hair a single color, but rather use various shades, to ensure that the result won't be spoiled very quickly as it grows.

The same is true when a women darkens her hair: it will eventually look bad. But, it will look bad in an even worse way, since its roots will become light and its edges will become dark. This is a combination that looks unnatural immediately, since it is not found in nature -unlike the dark roots/light edges combination.

So, a brunette who dyes her hair blond can maintain her appearance for a longer time than a blonde who dyes it black. It takes more effort to maintain the latter transition than the former one.

Further reading:

I dyed my hair and now I've got awful roots. What should I do?

[A women dyed her hair black and now is complaining that her dark brown roots are showing; imagine how worse it would be if she were even lighter-haired]

It's definitely noticeable -- you'd need to dye it frequently to avoid the "floating hair" syndrome (blonde roots with dark ends make it look like your hair is levitating off your head). And it's hard to avoid getting dye on your scalp, which is *also* noticeable!!

3 more hours with Richard and the situation is only getting worse. He told me that it is going to be a couple more weeks ... and a couple more treatments, before we can fix the color. Even then he doesn't think we can go all the way back to red. There was a suggestion made to put in lots of highlights. Richard is going way above and beyond the call of duty to try and fix this without stripping my hair, but I'm about to give up. I have two inches of blonde roots (with some gray thrown in for good measure). This is the only time in my life that I wish my hair didn't grow so fast. It looks horrible.

This concludes the Hair Dyeing Trilogy of posts, which I hope have thrown some light in the supposed evidence for a "blonde ideal".

Hair Color Sales: the Marketing Perspective

In my previous post I disproved the notion that blond hair dye sales indicate that there is a preference for blond hair. In summary, blond hair dyes sell more because most people are brunets and hence the buyng habits of brunets (who change their hair color to blond) dominate the hair dyeing business.

But all of this is based on the assumption that people choose their hair color independently and based on their desire to be more attractive. Even this assumption is false, since hair dye sales are driven largely by the hair dye companies/hair stylists and the fashion industry who create the role models which ordinary women aspire to look like.

At first glance it would seem that hair dye companies wouldn't have any interest in taking sides in favor of blondeness. After all, a bottle of brown hair dye is presumably sold at the same price as one of blond hair dye. Why would they take sides in favor of blondes?

Imagine that you are an employee in such a company, thinking: "Should I market blonde hair shades or dark hair shades?" The answer is of course that you should market blonde hair shades, because the potential customers for blonde hair are many more than those for dark hair. Most people have naturally brown hair, so you can't sell them what they have. Thus, blonde hair is agressively marketed because selling the "blonde ideal" is more profitable than selling the "brown ideal" (*)

Or, think that you are a hair stylist. Most of your clients are brunettes, hence you have an interest in using your influence in convincing them to turn into blondes.

In conclusion:

1. Hair dye sales do not (in themselves) provide evidence for a preference for any hair color
2. In the hypothetical case that there is a preference for blonde hair, we must be aware of the fact that this is not necessarily due to the biological factor (i.e., to a preference for blonde hair), but also to the entire industry that stands to profit more by "blondening" women than by "darkening" them.

(*) This also explains the aggressive marketing of the "blond ideal" in places like East Asia. Hair dyes are used either to mask greying hair, or to change one's hair color. Sales from this latter use of hair dyes can only be generated by promoting the "blonde ideal" since in East Asia hair is naturally black in the vast majority of the population.

Hair Color Dye Sales and Observation Selection Effects

One of the arguments for the alleged attractiveness of blondes runs roughly as follows:

A. People try to make themselves more attractive
B. People buy dye their hair blond more than they do dark (as evidenced by hair dye sales)

From A and B it follows (according to faulty reasoning as I will show) that people (and esp. women) with light hair are more attractive than those with dark hair.

There are many things wrong with these reasoning, (*) but I will focus on a fault based on observation selection effects. (+)

The key parameter that we need to evaluate is the following: what is the probability that a person of hair color X will change it to hair color Y, which we'll note Pr(X->Y). For simplicity, let's assume that there are two colors, LIGHT and DARK.

Now, if Pr(DARK->LIGHT) > Pr(LIGHT->DARK) then light hair is preferred to dark hair. Suppose that we know that LIGHTSALES bottles of LIGHT hair dye are sold as opposed to DARKSALES bottles of DARK hair dye (@). Suppose also that NLIGHT people have naturally light hair and NDARK people have naturally dark hair.

Does LIGHTSALES>DARKSALES imply that light hair is preferred to dark hair?

The answer to this question is no, for a very simple reason. We can write the probabilities Pr(LIGHT->DARK), Pr(DARK->LIGHT) as:

Pr(LIGHT->DARK) = DARKSALES/NLIGHT
Pr(DARK->LIGHT) = LIGHTSALES/NDARK

So, LIGHTSALES and DARKSALES are not what determines preference for light or dark hair. Rather, it is the quantities written above.

Let's give a concrete example. Suppose that NLIGHT=1000, NDARK=5000 and LIGHTSALES=1000, DARKSALES=200. Light hair dyes are thus bought 500% more than dark hair dyes, but:

Pr(LIGHT->DARK) = 200/1000 = 0.2
Pr(DARK->LIGHT) = 1000/5000 = 0.2

So, it turns out that there is indeed no preference for light hair. The greater light hair dye sales are explained by the structure of the population: dark-haired people are commoner, and this is why there are more people who buy hair lightening products than there are those who buy hair darkening products.

Without hard data it is impossible to determine whether there is a preference for dark or light hair. The thing to remember though is that the argument from hair dye sales does not represent evidence in favor of the "attractive blonde" hypothesis.

(*) One of the main ones is the premise that what people think makes them more attractive actually do make them more attractive. Also, hard data on the sales of dye products, as well as their distribution (e.g., with respect to age, or with respect to the probability that a person of hair color X will change it to hair color Y) are not available.
(+)Nick Bostrom's website has tons of info about observational selection effects, including the more approachable Cars in the Other Lane Really Do Go Faster.
(@) We assume that these represent sales to people who want to change their hair color. Some portion of LIGHT or DARK hair dye sales will be used by those who use their own natural hair color, e.g., to hide the gray.

Further reading:

How Blondness Evolved
On the Evolution of Blondness
Hair Color, Personality and the Observer

mtDNA modifies cognition in mice

Nature Genetics
volume 35 no. 1 pp 65 - 69

Mitochondrial DNA modifies cognition in interaction with the nuclear genome and age in mice

Pierre L Roubertoux et al.

Several lines of evidence indicate an association between mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and the functioning of the nervous system. As neuronal development1, 2 and structure3-5 as well as axonal and synaptic activity6, 7 involve mitochondrial genes, it is not surprising that most mtDNA diseases are associated with brain disorders8, 9. Only one study has suggested an association between mtDNA and cognition10, however. Here we provide direct evidence of mtDNA involvement in cognitive functioning. Total substitution of mtDNA was achieved by 20 repeated backcrosses in NZB/BlNJ (N) and CBA/H (H) mice with different mtDNA origins. All 13 mitochondrial genes were expressed in the brains of the congenic quartet. In interaction with nuclear DNA (nDNA), mtDNA modified learning, exploration, sensory development and the anatomy of the brain. The effects of mtDNA substitution persisted with age, increasing in magnitude as the mice got older. We observed different effects with input of mtDNA from N versus H mice, varying according to the phenotypes. Exchanges of mtDNA may produce phenotypes outside the range of scores observed in the original mitochondrial and nuclear combinations. These findings show that mitochondrial polymorphisms are not as neutral as was previously believed.

Link (requires access)

Mitochondrial DNA Variability in Bosnians and Slovenians

Annals of Human Genetics
Volume 67 Issue 5 Page 412 - September 2003

Mitochondrial DNA Variability in Bosnians and Slovenians

B. A. Malyarchuk et al.

Summary

Mitochondrial DNA variability in two Slavonic-speaking populations of the northwestern Balkan peninsula, Bosnians (N = 144) and Slovenians (N = 104), was studied by hypervariable segments I and II (HVS I and II) sequencing and restriction fragment-length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of the mtDNA coding region. The majority of the mtDNA detected in Southern Slavonic populations falls into the common West Eurasian mitochondrial haplogroups (e.g., H, pre-V, J, T, U, K, I, W, and X). About 2% of the Bosnian mtDNAs encompass East Eurasian and African lineages (e.g., M and L1b, respectively). The distribution of mtDNA subclusters in Bosnians, Slovenians and the neighbouring European populations reveals that the common genetic substratum characteristic for Central and Eastern European populations (such as Germans, Poles, Russians and Finns) penetrates also South European territories as far as the Western Balkans. However, the observed differentiation between Bosnian and Slovenian mtDNAs suggests that at least two different migration waves of the Slavs may have reached the Balkans in the early Middle Ages.

Link (requires access)

Diversity of Mitochondrial DNA Lineages in South Siberia

Annals of Human Genetics
Volume 67 Issue 5 Page 391 - September 2003

Diversity of Mitochondrial DNA Lineages in South Siberia
M. V. Derenko et al.

Summary

To investigate the origin and evolution of aboriginal populations of South Siberia, a comprehensive mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis (HVR1 sequencing combined with RFLP typing) of 480 individuals, representing seven Altaic-speaking populations (Altaians, Khakassians, Buryats, Sojots, Tuvinians, Todjins and Tofalars), was performed. Additionally, HVR2 sequence information was obtained for 110 Altaians, providing, in particular, some novel details of the East Asian mtDNA phylogeny. The total sample revealed 81% East Asian (M*, M7, M8, M9, M10, C, D, G, Z, A, B, F, N9a, Y) and 17% West Eurasian (H, U, J, T, I, N1a, X) matrilineal genetic contribution, but with regional differences within South Siberia. The highest influx of West Eurasian mtDNAs was observed in populations from the East Sayan and Altai regions (from 12.5% to 34.5%), whereas in populations from the Baikal region this contribution was markedly lower (less than 10%). The considerable substructure within South Siberian haplogroups B, F, and G, together with the high degree of haplogroup C and D diversity revealed there, allows us to conclude that South Siberians carry the genetic imprint of early-colonization phase of Eurasia. Statistical analyses revealed that South Siberian populations contain high levels of mtDNA diversity and high heterogeneity of mtDNA sequences among populations (Fst = 5.05%) that might be due to geography but not due to language and anthropological features.

LInk (requires access)

Mount Toba Eruption (revisited)

A new study contradicts the previous one I had posted earlier.

Journal of Human Evolution (in press)

The super-eruption of Toba, did it cause a human bottleneck?

F. J. Gathorne-Hardy et al.

In summary, we have not been able to find any evidence to support the hypothesis that the Toba super-eruption of 73.5 Ka caused a bottleneck in the human population. The direct effects of the eruption were fairly localised, and at the time probably had a negligible effect on any human population in Asia, let alone Africa. Genetic evidence indicates that the Pleistocene human population bottleneck was not hour-glass shaped, but rather an up-side down bottle with a long neck. Modern humans at that time were adaptable, mobile, and technologically well-equipped, and it is likely that they could have dealt with the short-term environmental effects of the Toba event. Finally, we have found no evidence for associated animal decline or extinction, even in environmentally-sensitive species. We conclude that it is unlikely that the Toba super-eruption caused a human, animal or plant populationbottleneck.

Greek Faces (II)

Another central Greek type (a news presenter), older and possessing both the features and the expression of the same racial type as the previous example. Also showing typical patterns of facial expression.

Bodily Expression

Students of racial anthropology have traditionally focused on either the quantifiable physical differences (shape, size, color, proportion) or on the equally quantifiable behavioral differences (cognitive performance, aptitude for crime, etc.). Less studied is the field of bodily expression (gesture, grimace, posture, gait, etc.) which does not lend itself so easily to quantitative treatment. (*)

Bodily expression (+) is influenced by two factors:

i. Physique, inasmuch as bodily expression uses the body as its instrument
ii. Mentality, inasmuch as it is driven by psychological processes (both conscious and unconscious)

(It would be useful to add perhaps material culture as an additional factor; notice, e.g., how people express their feelings via objects that surround them: hugging pillows, fidgeting with cell-phones, etc.)

Here are some examples of how physique influences bodily expression:

i. Blushing, influenced by color and thickness of skin
ii. Frowning, Raising an eyebrow, influenced by orbital development. E.g., consider how different the sunken orbits of palaeomorphic Europeoids are compared to the raised eyebrows of the Mongoloids, who (especially in old age) acquire that often caricatured expression of bewilderment.
iii. "Wide-eyed wonder", influenced by eyelid formation
iv. Smiling, influenced by cheekbone prominence, facial angle, lip/teeth size.
v. Passing a hand through one's hair, influenced by hair type (e.g., frizzy vs. wavy) or presence of beard.

We must be aware of these physiological differences when discussing bodily expression. For example, Western observers often comment on how the Mongoloids often seem to be smiling. Various psychological-cultural explanations are often proposed to explain this. But, a more mundane one is that in Caucasoids smiling is associated with an elevation/contraction of the cheeks; the plump cheeks of the Mongoloids give them often a pseudo-smiling appearance, while they make it almost impossible for the Mongoloids to present the "long face" that shows discontent.

In a different example, think of how anger is often expressed via the jaw, especially by bringing the mandible forward and tightening its muscles. Clearly, the same effect cannot be produced by a square-faced orthognathous race and a narrow-jawed prognathous one.

The various examples/factors enumerated above indicate how expression does not operate independently of physique. Naturally, all human beings are able to express most human emotions. But it would be incorrect to assume that they all have an equal range of expressiveness; in other words that they can present equally well subtle gradations of emotions. Additionally, emotions expressed by one race are usually recognized by those of other races. However, often there is a communication breakdown because one gets the wrong "read" of the mental state of a person of a different race.

It would be wrong however to assume that the differences in bodily expression are only due to differences in physique. ($) They can also be attributed to differences in mentality.
That the racial groups differ in mentality seems obvious.(#) But, how did it come to be?

For example, light levels are known to influence mood (watch a thriller in broad daylight vs. in full darkness for a demonstration). Light intensity is higher in the tropics and lower in the poles, while the ratio of day/night over a 24-hour period ranges from very even (in the equator) to very uneven (in the pole), with many gradations. A race that has to operate for long hours in darkness will have quite different reactions to it than one for whome daily intense sunlight is a given.

Or, think of how posture and gait are influenced by terrain and occupation, e.g., how seamen need to be agile and well-balanced; how savannah hunters need to be swift on their feet; how mountaineers (in contrast) need to be cautious and meditative in their motions to negotiate uneven terrain with safety.

Think also of the influence of social organization/geographical distribution. A population of hunter gatherers spread over a wide area will certainly not have the same requirements for bodily expression as an urban population, where daily face-to-face contacts with people (and indeed strangers) are frequent.

To conclude: the way we express ourselves with our bodies is an important racial trait. It is influenced by how our bodies are built (physique) and how they think (mentality). The latter is the result both of genes (or race) and of our culture. Thus, different racial/ethnic groups express themselves differently from one another, sometimes leaving room for confusion. (@)

PS: "National expression" is another matter which I find extremely interesting. The stereotypes of the excitable and talkative Latins vs. the sober and withdrawn Germanics are well known. Are they grounded in reality? Can one recognize e.g., an Italian from a German by observing their behavior? This is not an easy task, because of the need to control for appearance; in other words, to make sure that recognition is achieved because of behavior and not because of physical differences or clothing. My personal opinion is that such behavioral differences are very real, on a par with physical differences.

(*) Of course there are treatments of these with non-quantitative methods, as in published catalogs of gestures from around the world, or much earlier by Ludwig Ferdinand Clauss and his science (?) of Rassenseelekunde which was inspired by Phenomenology.
(+) To this we should probably add language.
($) To add a further complication, is it possible that differences in physique are themselves partly the result of differences in mental makeup? E.g., does a culture that favors "jolliness" over "seriousness" cause its population to evolve into a type that can express "jolliness" more easily?
(#) Of course, always speaking of mean mentality without any value judgements.
(@) Also, often allowing them to recognize their own from others of similar genetic makeup.

Demosthenes' Ancestry

The creator of Refuting Racial Myths uses the Athenian orator Demosthenes as an example of a Nordic Greek aristocrat. Now, whether Demosthenes was Nordic is open to question, since no information as to his pigmentation has been preserved by tradition. However, what's more important is that Demosthenes' ancestry was partly barbarian, as his mother was a Scythian. Hence, rather than being an example of the Nordic upper class that the creator of RRM believes preserved the "racial purity" of the original Greeks, he was in fact a half-Greek, who would not even be a citizen under the Periclean citizenship law that required one's mother to be the daughter of an Athenian citizen.

"You, O Demosthenes, are from your mother's side the descendant of nomad Scythians", Aiskhines, On the Embassy, 78

"From his mother, [Demosthenes] is a Scyth, a Greek-speaking barbarian", Aiskhines Against Ctesiphon, 172

Greek Faces (I)

Greek actress Dimitra Matsouka is a central Greek type, square-faced and straight-nosed, with chestnut hair and expressive brown eyes.