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It has been at the root of division and persecution for centuries, but it
seems that the white skin of most modern Europeans did not evolve
in Europe at all.
It was not until 7,800 years ago, when the first farmers migrated from
the Near East through Turkey that two key genes that provide lighter
skin appeared.
DNA analysis obtained from ancient human remains has shown that
as these farmers bred with the dark skinned hunter gatherers, one of
these genes became prevalent in the European population and
European's skin colour began to lighten.
Around 5,800 years ago the second gene, which makes skin colour
lighter still, also began to spread though the European population.
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The first Europeans looked dramatically different to most of the fair skinned people
that live there today. New research suggests Caucasians were a recent addition to
the area, arriving on the continent 8,000 years ago
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Europeans had dark skin for far longer than previously though. Photographed are
two participants in the BBC's Trading Races where members of the British public
spent several days dressed with a different skin colour
It took at least that long for their genes to evolve until they were no
longer intolerant to lactose, the natural sugar in mammalian milk,
scientists suggests.
the samples were dated from 5,700 BC to 800 BC, ranging across
the Stone, Copper, Bronze and Iron Ages.
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Studies suggest that Europe was first reshaped during the Neolithic Revolution
8,500 years ago. Farmers at this time travelled north, bringing new technology and
language into Europe. Pictured is an early Neolithic 35-40 year old male from,
Czech Republic, who was part of the first mass migration to Europe
They found that the remains of early hunter gatherers who lived in
Spain, Luxembourg and Hungary around 8,500 years ago, they
lacked these key gene variants.
Surprisingly they found a fourth set of genes in the DNA from these
people suggests these people may actually have been related to
people living in East Asia at the time.
Dr Mathieson and his colleagues also found that when the first
farmers from the Near East arrived in Europe, they carried with them
genes for light skin.
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Previous research has identified a mass migration of Kurgan populations (Yamna
culture) which went from the Russian steppes to the centre of Europe 4,500 years
ago. Previously, researchers had believed it spread 8,500 years ago, when the first
farmers from the Near East, now modern day Turkey, brought it to Europe
These gene is known to account for between 25-40 per cent of the
skin tone lightening in Europeans.
Around 5,800 years ago the gene variant for SLC45A1 then
becomes prevalent, lightening skin colour further.
The results contradict the traditional view that lower sunlight levels in
Europe would have favoured lighter skin.
The study also showed that around around 4,800 years ago a group
of herders known as the Yamnaya migrated from the stepps
between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, carried with them
genes for tallness to northern and central Europe.
'But from ancient DNA it now looks like the first farmers in mainland
Europe were still relatively dark-skinned and dark-eyed, and lacked
the ability to digest milk properly until only about 4,000 years ago,
while contemporary hunter-gatherers in Scandinavia may have been
lighter-skinned but with a surprising frequency of a gene found in
oriental populations today, suggesting they would have resembled
them in hair form and the distinctive morphology of their front teeth.