What Did the First Blue-Eyed Person Look Like? (2024)

FAQs

Who was the first race to have blue eyes? ›

The researchers hypothesized that the OCA2 mutation responsible for blue eyes arose in an individual who lived in the northwestern part of the Black Sea region in Europe sometime between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago during the Neolithic period.

The main gene that controls eye color is relatively closely linked to the genes that cause skin color. It is believed that the ancient human ancestors all had dark brown or nearly black colored eyes and very dark hair (which is also controlled by linked genes to eye color and skin color).

In 2006, researchers discovered a 7,000 year old body from the Stone Age in the La Brana cave system in Leon in Northern Spain (Image 4). Genetic testing determined that this man had blue eyes. It was not in itself unusual, but what is remarkable is that he is the earliest known person with blue eyes.

Blonde hair and blue eyes among Western Eurasians probably originated in the Caucasus/Iranian area. Blue eyes originated 42 000 years ago and the oldest genes for blonde hair were found among the West Asian, Ancient Northern Eurasians dated to 16 000 years.

For example, in Scandinavian countries and Iceland, it's quite common to find individuals with blue eyes.

Is it possible to be half Native American and have blue eyes? Sure, it's possible and does happen from time to time. But, it's not terribly common either. Hazel or greenish or gray eyes are more commonly seen in half or near-half blood individuals who have “light eyes.”

Green is also the rarest eye color in America. A 2014 survey by the Academy found that 45 percent of Americans had brown eyes, 27 percent had blue eyes, 18 percent had hazel eyes and nine percent had green eyes. The survey also found that 1 percent had eyes that were a color not listed.

It turns out most Vikings weren't as fair-haired and blue-eyed as legend and pop culture have led people to believe. According to a new study on the DNA of over 400 Viking remains, most Vikings had dark hair and dark eyes. (Sorry, Chris Hemsworth and Travis Fimmel.)

One thing these survey results have in common is that light-colored eyes — green, gray, blue, and hazel — are named as the most attractive eye colors in the world. In one large survey of more than 66,000 people, green was chosen as the most attractive eye color.

One theory is that dark gray eyes come from a thin layer of melanin on the front layer of the iris. The blue reflection of light is clouded over by the dark layer in front causing a dark gray color. Light gray eyes are almost the opposite.

What country are you from if you have blue eyes? ›

The most prevalent place to find people with blue eyes (and where those percentages are considerably higher) is in the Scandinavian region. Europe also has pocket where people with blue eyes can be more commonly found.

There's also the idea that blue eyes were advantageous because they perceive stationary objects better than moving things. This could have been an advantage to hunter gatherer women who needed to identify and collect plant foods — indeed blue eyes may even have evolved in women first.

Natural red hair is the rarest hair color in the world. A mere one to two percent of people are born with auburn hair. The prevalence is slightly higher in the northern and western fringes of Europe, especially the British Isles (mainly Ireland and Scotland), than in the rest of the world.

Naturally-occurring blond hair is primarily found in people living in or descended from people who lived in the northern half of Europe, and may have evolved alongside the development of light skin that enables more efficient synthesis of vitamin D, due to northern Europe's lower levels of sunlight.

So while many Asians do have the “blue-eyed allele”, blue eyes themselves are still quite rare.

A Stone Age man who lived about 7,000 years ago and whose buried bones were discovered in 2006 has turned out to be the earliest known person with blue eyes, a physical trait that evolved relatively recently in human history, a study has found.

Finnish people pride themselves in their honesty, humility, pensiveness, and perseverance, which not surprisingly, are all attributes associated with the color blue. Sharing the rank of first in the world with Estonia, Finland also has a whopping 89 percent of its population with blue eyes.

"Behind Blue Eyes" is a song by English rock band the Who. It is the second single from the band's fifth album, Who's Next (1971), and was originally written by Pete Townshend for his Lifehouse project. The song is one of the Who's best-known recordings and has been covered by many artists, including Limp Bizkit.