While the monkeys readily accepted the food from the blue and green shirts, they universally rejected food brought by the red shirts. These pioneers of red hair then began to spread to the Balkans and central and Western Europe in the Bronze Age as they migrated once again, this time in search of metal. The majority of the migrants remained in these regions, although some spread further west to the Atlantic seaboard, and fewer still moved eastwards into Siberia and some as far south as India. However, these latter migrations were scant- which explains the rarity of red hair in these areas. If one parent is redheaded and the other isn’t, the chances their child will have red hair is about 50 percent, though the shade of red may vary greatly.
How does hair color work?
Most redheads have a gene mutation in the melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R). When MC1R is inactivated, the body produces more pheomelanin, which is responsible for reddish skin and hair tones, than eumelanin, which is responsible for shades of brown and black. In people with an activated MC1R, eumelanin can balance pheomelanin, but in redheads, the gene variant prevents that. Your hair color and eye color come down to what genes you inherit from your parents. If one person has both red hair and blue eyes, there’s a good chance one or both of their parents do, too, but not always. If you produce a lot of the melanin type eumelanin, you probably have black or brown hair.
The Ginger Gene
In sunnier countries pale skin (and red hair with it) is less favourable, as pale skin increases the risk of sunburn. Whether you have one or both MC1R gene copies inactivated can also determine the shade of red hair you have, from strawberry blonde to deep auburn to bright red. In some extreme cases, people have been harassed (others have behaved threateningly towards them) for having red hair. Once again collaborative research is helping to provide answers to some of life's important questions.
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And, if you have low levels of eumelanin plus high levels of a red/yellow pigment called pheomelanin, you may have red hair. There are many kinds of red hair, some fairer, or mixed with blond ('strawberry blond'), some darker, like auburn hair, which is brown hair with a reddish tint. This is because some people only carry one or a few of the several possible MC1R mutations. The lightness of the hair ultimately depends on other mutations regulating the general pigmentation of both the skin and hair. Red hair is a captivating phenomenon that has been the source of fascination for hundreds of years. Through exploring the genetics, history, mythology, and cultural significance of red hair, we can gain insight into why this unique hair color continues to be so captivating.
As it’s believed that Scandinavia had the most redheads during the Viking Age, it can be supposed that most redheads were Vikings during that era. This perception holds to be true when you look at the prevalence of red haired people in where Vikings used to be found around what’s present-day Norway and parts of Scotland. Red beards that matched the red hair were far more common than believed to be. The ginger gene that’s responsible for the mutated appearance of red hair affects all hair cells and follicles. This results in red beards as well even if, as mentioned, some sources suggest that Viking women and men dyed their hair and beards. Yet, there’s more evidence that suggests that these Nordic tribes – especially those in West Scandinavia – were likely to have had red hair genes instead.
Researchers discover genetic link to red hair
Scotland leads with around 13% and Ireland falls behind at just 10% globally, making the number one and two respectively in the whole world. According to sources, red hair and beards are a genetic trait that is specific to Nordic tribes. It’s even thought that some Norsemen would dye their red hair and beards to look blond using lye soap. These portrayals were reflections of inbuilt classical preconceptions of redheads.
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If you liked this article, you’re going to love Rachael’s Instagram account called @thehairhistorian. Rachael has extensive knowledge of the history of the hairdressing industry, including the trends, techniques, tools and the wider cultural impacts of hair. For example, when you compare Northern Scandinavian areas, you’re likely to find remains of more blond Vikings than in any other parts, particularly West Scandinavia (modern day Denmark) where more red heads could be found. It’s this era that really made him one of the most famous Vikings, as it’s when he became known for his many travels that led to many discoveries, the most well-known one being his discovery of Greenland. However, studies suggest that there were indeed other Nordic seafarers who had discovered Greenland before him.
There’s a lot of historical information that has been distorted over the years. Partly due to pop culture references, Vikings have been depicted with blond hair. Perhaps like the color of our hair, the suspicion of red is in our genes. Ireland boasts the highest national average of redheads with 10 percent, while Scotland comes a closesecond with six percent. In his 1885 book I Say No, Wilkie Collins wrote "The prejudice against habitual silence, among the lower order of the people, is almost as inveterate as the prejudice against red hair." Judas Iscariot is also represented with red hair in Spanish culture[107][108] and in the works of William Shakespeare,[109] reinforcing the negative stereotype.
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However, not everyone carrying both of these versions end up having red hair. Someone happens to inherit two variations of the gene that controls which pigment is in your hair and how much is produced. Those variations mean that the person can’t produce dark pigment, and therefore they have red hair. The primary gene responsible for producing red hair is known as MC1R (melanocortin 1 receptor).
Vitamin D deficiencies bring about weak bones, muscle pain and rickets in children. Clues suggested that red hair could have evolved in Paleolithic Europe amongst the Neanderthals. Scientists analyzed Neanderthal remains from Croatia and found a gene that resulted in red hair. However, the gene that causes red hair in modern humans is not the same as that in Neanderthals. Nor is the red-haired gene of either race found in any of the peoples who are descended from Paleolithic humans, namely the Finnish and most of Eastern Europe.
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The skin of these new redhead people was well adapted to absorbing the much-needed UV light. It was, however, a little too sensitive to the sun- which is why redheads often sunburn and are more prone to skin cancer. While they may display the dominant genes, they still have — and can pass to their kids — the recessive genes. For example, two brown-haired, brown-eyed parents can have a child with blonde hair and blue eyes. At equal latitude, the frequency of red hair correlates amazingly well with the percentage of R1b lineages.
Receive a message as soon as we add a new hereditary trait or condition to the iGene Passport. Depite all this, the US has the largest number of redheads living there in the world (up to 18 million compared to 650,000 redheads living in Scotland). Red hair is said to be most common close to the Northern European coasts and islands of the Atlantic Ocean, like British Isles, and in particular among Celtic people.
The gene that plays the biggest role in whether a person inherits red hair is the melanocortin 1 receptor gene, better known as MC1R. In most people, MC1R stimulates the production of eumelanin, but mutations in the gene can cause this production to be reduced. Lastly, if both parents are carriers of the gene variant but don’t have red hair, the child has about a 1 in 4 chance of having truly red hair. The true pattern of inheritance of hair color is somewhat more complicated, though, as there are many genes involved. The gene for red hair is recessive, so a person needs two copies of that gene for it to show up or be expressed.
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