Scientists led by Guido Barbugiani from the University of Ferrara in Italy have concluded that, according to paleontological data, predominantly dark-skinned people lived in Europe from the Stone Age until relatively recently. The study is published on the bioRxiv portal (doi.org/10.1101/2025.01.29.635495).
Genes affecting the production of melanin, which determines skin tone, show that 3,000 years ago 63 percent of Europeans had dark skin, and 8 percent had light skin, like modern Scandinavians. The rest had an intermediate skin tone. Such conclusions were made based on the analysis of 348 DNA sequences of material obtained from the world database of the DNA bank of archaeological finds dating from the Paleolithic to the Iron Age from different locations in Europe.
The reasons for these changes in skin phenotypes, the authors suggest considering the transition to agriculture, since before agriculture, people received enough vitamin D from meat, fish and wild plants, but an increase in grain consumption reduced the intake of vitamin D. Lighter skin allows for more efficient vitamin D intake from sunlight, and it has become more common among Europeans.