How are Black hair w/ Brown eyes viewed in Europe? (curiosity) (DNA, compared)

[ABQConvict]

Originally Posted by french user

Very true. The concept of "ethnicity" is a very american thing.

(Despite having been used in the conventional context by Polybius in the 3rd century BCE and continuously by historians, anthropologists, and ethnologists for the last 2,200 years.)

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by brabham12

Southbond is right with the fact that a lot of inhabitants in a specific region can have a very "regional" look, however, I doubt that there is a look which is typical only for the Eifel... most of the people there just look like average Western Germans/Alsatians/Belgians/French etc. They surely look a bit different than your average North German from Holstein or your average Prussian from Brandenburg but then there isn't a "Eifel" look as a whole; it's more like a general "Southern/Western German" look.

The "look" in the Sued Eifel bleeds into Luxembourg & part of the Pfalz in different ways. Prior to the Napoleonic Wars parts of the Sued Eifel belonged to Luxembourg & parts belonged to the Archbishopric of Trier. After the region was divided new genes entered the pool in the jurisdictions. This is why I said about half have a look & I have that look. For any people who have not been to the area & don't know its history to tell me that I'm wrong when I have been there & know the history is not something that makes me think that these posters know what they are talking about.

I asked numerous people why people were addressing me with the Dialekt & not my father, who I was traveling with. They all said that there were several women in the area who looked identical to me. This fits with the stock photo that ran in my nearest newspaper prior to Reagan's visit to the Bitburg cemetery that showed a woman in that cemetery who looked identical to me.

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by Miserere

That might happen in a town or a region way up in the mountains in which all are closely related, those towns were incommunicated during years and they all have a family look....but in a flat place with a large population like Belgium?..difficult. Those were the scenarios of the 30 year wars, brutal rapings by mercenaries. Mercenaries (Lasknets and Tercios) considered women "fringe payment".

Maybe in Austria there are, or there were, places like that.

Do you know where the Eifel is & have you been there? There are some very large families who have been there for centuries. I am descended from some of those very old, very large families in the Sued Eifel. The look is obviously familial. Somewhere in the neighborhood of half of the people have that look.

[french user]

Originally Posted by ABQConvict

(Despite having been used in the conventional context by Polybius in the 3rd century BCE and continuously by historians, anthropologists, and ethnologists for the last 2,200 years.)

The way enthologists use the concept of "ethnicity" has not much in common with the way Americans use it as a genetic/racial concept. Ethnicity is a concept that is scientifically defined as cultural/linguistics concepts, not racial ones (only anthropologists of 19th century used the concept of ethnicity in a racial way, and the US does still continues to apply those old racialist conceptions, Europeans defines ethnicty on culture.

[dizzybint]

god almighty, how can this question on here get so many pages, its unbelievable how eye or hair colour can become so important...

[julia90]

They are important.. At least in europe hair color and texture have always been a thing of sexual attraction

And Europe is the richest continent and the only original one of all the shadesof hair and eyes colors.
The rest of the world is boring and monotonous on Theese features

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by french user

The way enthologists use the concept of "ethnicity" has not much in common with the way Americans use it as a genetic/racial concept. Ethnicity is a concept that is scientifically defined as cultural/linguistics concepts, not racial ones (only anthropologists of 19th century used the concept of ethnicity in a racial way, and the US does still continues to apply those old racialist conceptions, Europeans defines ethnicty on culture.

This is correct. In the US, many places have "ethnic" neighborhoods which could be Irish, Polish, Chinese, etc. Having a different definition of ethnic doesn't mean that we are wrong, just different. When people clearly don't know where a European location is, for posters to pronounce me wrong is laughable & presumptuous.

As I said, my grandfather had pitch-black hair as a young man. His father & his brothers also had pitch-black hair. His mother & sister had blonde hair. I've worked with people in the US & the Eifel on genealogy. We have found families in my grandfather's genealogy who were clearly Jewish at some time in the distant past. The area was part of Gaul so in the even more distant past there was most likely an intermingling with Roman soldiers. Somewhere in the past, the area was part of the Spanish Netherlands. One of the surnames is clearly Spanish. The original question concerned black hair. This is clearly a trait governed by genetics.

One of the Eifel natives who I worked with descends from one of my families. He has an online tree. When he incorporated my lines into his tree, my lines showed links to various families which had previously connected only to him in one family or another. Over time it showed just how connected the region is, especially when you get back to the 1700s & earlier. It's all about the North American concept of ethnicity.

As to a poster being asked what are your origins when speaking fluent French, how that person takes the question is going to depend on their personal origin. People in the US have a reputation for not being good with other languages. Just as I was assumed to be local if people didn't hear me speak, I can see people asking questions if the person doesn't fit in, visually, but speaks the language fluently.

[overdrive1979]

Originally Posted by LindavG

I've met quite a few Spaniards who have blonde or even red hair. In my experience they're a lot "whiter" than Italians or Portuguese, more like French people. The ones I met were all from the North (Catalunya) and centre (Madrid) though. I suppose people in other parts of Spain are generally darker.

I can't tell them apart. In fact, most people look almost the same throughout the whole country.

[nei]

Originally Posted by overdrive1979

I can't tell them apart. In fact, most people look almost the same throughout the whole country.

I didn't notice any appearance difference from Madrileños and Andalucians, though it was a short visit and I thought Madrileños might be from many parts of Spain.

[julia90]

Spaniards are in the same pigmenti in level as much of southern europe.. Only Greece or calabria are darkest.. Andin spain there are darkest regiona too..like extremadura and portugal in pair with it.

Pigmentazione in europe (hair, eyes, skin) goes on with latitude.

What have in common a british and a bielorussian? No common ancestry; bur same climate adaption. So they look innpigmentation similar (i would Say bielorussians should be lighter thought)