Where in the Caucasus are blondes born, and why is this happening

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

When a conversation comes about the inhabitants of the Caucasus, the image of a swarthy man with dark hair and thick black eyebrows is immediately formed in the head. This is how, in the opinion of the majority, Ossetians, Ingush, Georgians and Armenians look like. But often in families of representatives of this group of nationalities, bright children are born. No, they are far from blondes of the Scandinavian type, but light blond hair, gray, blue or green eyes are not so rare.

Mixed marriages: the natural lottery

Why it happens? One of the reasons, of course, is mixed marriages in previous generations. The gene for "white-skinned" is recessive, therefore, brunettes in mixed couples are born much more often. However, the genetic information is preserved and after several generations a smiling blue-eyed blonde may be born. And then the young father should not clutch at his heart, but first of all he needs to look into the album with family photos. There will certainly be a golden-haired beauty or a man with hair the color of ripe wheat.

The legacy of ancestors

But not only close ancestors can cause the appearance of a blonde baby in a Caucasian family. It is enough to turn to historical sources to find out that the ancestors of the Ossetians and Ingush were not at all like their contemporaries. In the annals they are described as tall, with white skin and predominantly blond hair.

The Alans, as this nomadic ethnos was called, lived on a vast territory stretching from the Roman Empire to Asia. After numerous wars, some of them settled on the territory of modern Ossetia and Ingushetia, mixed with local tribes. But even here heredity and evolutionary mechanisms came into play - dark hair is inherited more often, in a warm climate it is much more comfortable to have skin rich in melanin. Therefore, the population gradually became more and more like their contemporaries.

Proof of this hypothesis are the notes of the researcher ethnographer I. I. Pantyukhova. He argued that the percentage of bright eyes among certain peoples of the Caucasus fluctuates up to 30%, which is comparable to the indicators of Europeans and Slavs.

Blond Circassians

The Circassians were one of the most numerous nationalities living in the territory of the modern Stavropol Territory. Ethnographers described them as "fair-haired, with red mustaches and fair skin, gray or light brown eyes."

However, during the Russo-Caucasian War, a significant part fled to Turkey. But many remained. The closest genetically to the Circassians are the inhabitants of the village of Karm, it is difficult to distinguish them from the European exactly until they begin to speak.

There is also a hypothesis that the Circassians are descendants of the Slavs, in particular the Cossacks, since the self-name "Cossack" is often found in research. (Russian antiquities in art monuments. I. Tolstoy and N. Kondakov)

Caucasian Albanians

Lived on the territory of the Caucasus and the tribe, which was called the Albanians - white-skinned, fair-haired Caucasians. They were strikingly different from the Turks, were taller, had completely different beliefs and culture. Even the self-name of the nation comes from the Latin albus - "white", which confirms the theory of historians about tribes that are not similar to the Caspian type that is now widespread.

Unfortunately, a significant part of the Albanians was destroyed during the numerous wars with the Arabs, but "genetic echoes" are also found among their contemporaries.

Svans

Unlike the Albanians, the Svans did not disappear, did not dissolve in a turbulent cauldron of small ethnic groups. They, like four millennia ago, live in the highest mountainous region of Georgia (from 600 to 2500 meters above sea level). Their language differs significantly from Georgian, but gradually disappears, remaining only in the everyday speech of the older generation.

Tsarist Colonel Bartholomew described these people as tall, with a proud profile, fair-haired and blue-eyed. He noted their innocence and kindness, as well as the fact that the Svans sacredly honored their traditions. Their culture has developed in isolation for a long time, this allowed them to maintain genetic homogeneity.

And even after the unification with Georgia into one state, the Georgians were afraid of the Svans. The blond highlanders honored tradition, and blood feud was one of the most common ways to resolve family disputes. Therefore, mixed marriages have become commonplace only in the last few decades. And the gene of "golden curls" is often manifested, displacing the dominant Caspian appearance.

Chechens

Modern Chechens and Ingush are direct descendants of the Vainakhs, the Hurrian ethnic group. However, around the third millennium BC, these tribes mixed with others carrying the genetic characteristics of the Cro-Manoid race (the modern representatives of this race are the Slavs, as well as the Finns and Swedes).

The genetic "cocktail" explains such a wide variety of types of appearance in Chechnya. When the genes of the Central Asian race dominate, the child is born dark-skinned, with dark hair. When the Cro-manoid type takes over, the appearance practically does not differ from the Slavic one.

Nomads: migration for the sake of salvation

Another genetic branch, which became part of the ethnic heritage of the Caucasus, is mainly fair-haired and white-skinned nomads, the Polovtsians, who fled from numerous oppression from the warring tribes. They gradually assimilated, merged with the local residents and actually dissolved in the dominant ethnic groups in the Ciscaucasia.

That is why fair-haired people are not uncommon among Caucasians - there are many of them in Chechnya and Dagestan, as well as in Armenia and Georgia. And this mixture of races is beautiful in its own way, because it once again reminds us that every person who has left descendants is immortal. A tiny part of it lives for centuries. And centuries later, blue eyes look at the world, exactly the same as those of a young boy who built the legendary towers of Svaneti.

The Caucasus hides many interesting secrets. One of them - mysterious ancient megaliths that excite the minds of modern archaeologists.