The first example of blue eyes was in an unlucky child born with a heart condition 17,000 years ago.
“The baby most likely had blue eyes, dark skin and curly dark brown/near-black hair,” says Owen, an archaeologist at the University of Bologna, according to genetic data from his remains, now discovered in Italy. Owen Higgins and team said: write on their paper.
Like many people of the Paleolithic era, Ice Age children lacked the genes to digest milk as adults. He also likely has an abnormally thickened heart muscle, a condition that is usually inherited.
Measuring just 82 centimeters (32 inches) long, the remains are believed to have been short-lived, with an estimated age at death of 7.5 to 18 months.
Histological analysis of healed fractures of the baby’s teeth and collarbone showed that the baby had suffered a difficult birth and had already experienced other stresses.
“Our analysis showed that they developed slightly earlier than the average for modern European populations and experienced at least nine episodes of physiological stress, three of which occurred during intrauterine life.” says Higgins.
Stress indicators are consistent with genetic findings that suggest the child is stressed. hypertrophic cardiomyopathyCongenital heart disease associated with sudden death in adolescents.
The baby’s mother is likely stressed during pregnancy and may be malnourished. Isotope analysis showed that she remained in one location for at least the last part of her pregnancy. This was the same area where the child was born and spent his short life.
Archaeologists from the University of Siena discovered the remains of a prehistoric child in 1998. They were found hidden without any final possessions or decorations behind a rock in the Grotta delle Mura cave in Monopoli, Puglia, on Italy’s southwestern coast.
“Genetic analysis showed a close relationship between the child’s parents, suggesting they were probably first cousins.” explain “This phenomenon is rarely found in the Paleolithic, but is more common in the Neolithic,” said Alessandra Modi, a molecular anthropologist at the University of Florence.
Blue eyes are caused by a genetic mutation. OCA2It reduces our body’s ability to produce melanin, the pigment for brown eyes. mutation OCA2 The gene was also detected in Ice Age boys.
genetic analysis They suggest that all today’s blue-eyed humans, who may now make up up to 40% of some European populations, can be traced to a single mutation that occurred in Europe between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago.
The oldest previously known blue-eyed object was thought to be about 14,000 years old. Villa Bruna Man. that eye color And other genetic similarities suggest the boy’s people may have been ancestors of the Villabruna man.
This study Nature Communications.
