Anansi posted
evoandproud.blogspot.jp ^^The "Evo" website has a "HBD" type flavor that shades into a seeming racialism at points, or is taken up as such by various right-wing "biodiversity" claimants, but nevertheless does present some interesting acknowledgements of the hard data amassed by science. But some of the same data it posts debunks the very same "biodiversity" claims it is pushing- a common occurrence. "HBD" types do not like to hear that EUros became pale recently or that early European populations looked like Africans, for that puts a spike in their "white evolution supreme" models. If as late as 6-10kya ago Euros were black or brown, or showed tropical traits similar to those dreaded "colored" types, then their touted "white evolution" is a ludicrous bust. And bust it has been. Even the much touted "white" Cro-magnons turn out to be not so "white."
Debunked by hard science they have conjured a "sexual selection"/African primitivism angle. Under this revised shell, Euros became pale because "harsh" cold climates made living and eating difficult, created a shortage of men. To get men, women that were more unusual features like paler skin, blue eyes, blond hair etc came to the fore. Those more unusual or noticeable among the dark mass attracted the scarce men, who mated with them, leading over time to mo white people, as darker women fell away- out of the loop. Thus those dreaded "colored" African-types can be consigned to more ancient "archaic" or "primitive" types and times- while a newer, shiner white model "evolved" due to "selection" for whiteness. Break out the schnapps Herr Gobbels! White evolution at last!
Alack and alas, there are several holes in this cosy wall of whiteness.
1) Sexual selection may indeed occur as Frost et al have shown but it is an open question whether it is a PRIMARY cause of pale skin, compared to other much more relevant causes like the lesser amount of UV radiation in northern climes. Sure, sexual selection can be a factor, but little hard evidence establishes its touted centrality as claimed by "HBD" types, or importance relative to other evidence that clearly shows the importance of climate and validates such in multiple ways. It plays a part but may not even be a secondary or tertiary factor.
2) The finding that men gravitate towards "lighter" women in some cultures is often used as a heavyweight talking point for sexual selection. But the Talking point is not as strong as some seem to think it is. Yes, in some places lighter skin is ranked higher, BUT it is a scientific fact that most women are lighter than men due to blood flow and lesser melanin(Frost 2007). So even in dark-skinned populations though the human eye might not be able to quickly tell the difference, women are actually LIGHTER than men. SO ALMOST ALL men "go for" so-called "lighter" women- they have to- for female physiological factors make them lighter to begin with. Here is what their boy Peter Frost said about the matter:
"Men and women differ in complexion because of differing amounts of melanin and cutaneous blood flow; in short, women are fairer, men browner and ruddier (Edwards & Duntley, 1939; Frost, 1988; Frost, 2005; Hulse, 1967; Jablonski & Chaplin, 2000)." [by Peter Frost, 2007]and
"A different perspective on sexual dimorphism in skin pigmentation comes from the
recognition that human females require significantly higher amounts of calcium during
pregnancy and lactation and, thus, must have lighter skin than males in the same environment
in order to maximize their cutaneous vitamin D3 production (Jablonski and Chaplin 2000)...
Thus strong clinical evidence continues to support the hypothesis that lighter skin pigmentation
in females evolved primarily as a means to enhance the the potential for cutaneous vitamin
D production and maintain healthy long-term calcium status and skeletal health."-- Human Evolutionary Biology. 2010. By Michael P. Muehlenbein
3) Claims of allegedly "harsh environments" causing a "shortage of men" are very open to question, for "biodiversity" types often fail to show that most earlier Euros actually lived in such "hellish" environments or suffered . Far from being "unforgiving" Europe was a place rich in resources including massive herds of game animals and numerous wild ancestors of grains and other plants suitable for human consumption. Even in colder northern zones as in Sweden or Norway, there was a rich field of aquatic resources- shellfish, fish etc in river, lake and ocean. The Iron Gates region is just one example of this substantial resource base (Lewin 1988 et al). And it is by no means clear that artic tundra made up a significant part of that environment in the time period held to produce the "mo betta" white Euros.. Even if it did the resource base was hardly "unforgiving." On top of the dubious "unforgiving environment" claim, the alleged "man shortage" is also open to question for little hard evidence is usually proffered by HBD types in support only scenarios.
--------------
And where is the credible evidence for these early "Miss Daisy" types snapping up all the "scarce" men from their darker Euro sisters? It is rather thin. Oh sure anyone can THEORIZE about what "mighta" or "coulda" happened, but substantial empirical evidence to establish such as a significant factor in light skin evolution, compared to other factors like climate, is thin on the ground. And how come these Paleolithic or Neolithic "Miss Daisy" types did not oust darker southern European women from the "white like me" competition in Europe? "Evo" proffers that there are less males among the Eskimo than females due to hunting rigors as "proof" of the "Miss Daisy" effect, but this is Eskimo not European, and no data is shown of paler Eskimo females predominating over those of less pale hue. What we have again is irrelevant or tangential "evidence" that does not really bear on the key issues at hand.
------------------------------------------------------------------
4) One ironic piece of data to the chagrin of many HBD types using sexual "selection" to bash blacks is that in some of the same studies they cite, the darker-hued or black males were rated as more attractive than paler types. The HBDers usually avoid certain unpleasant conclusions that flow therefrom about potency or virility of those on a whiter shade of pale. According to one study: QUOTE:
"In the US and UK, more Black men are married to White women than vice versa and there are more White men married to Asian women than vice versa. Models of interracial marriage, based on the exchange of racial status for other capital, cannot explain these asymmetries. A new explanation is offered based on the relative perceived facial attractiveness of the different race-by-gender groups. This found that Black males are perceived as more attractive than White or East Asian males whereas among females, it is the East Asians that are perceived as most attractive on average. The results replicate earlier findings that Black men are rated as more attractive than White men. It was further found that Asian men were rated as less attractive than either other race. For women the pattern was reversed with Asian women being rated as most attractive followed by White women and then Black women. The patterns observed occurred regardless of the race of the person doing the ratings."Lewis MB (2012) A Facial Attractiveness Account of Gender Asymmetries in Interracial Marriage. PLoS ONE 7(2)
Furthermore, in several studies including those done by P. Frost (an HBD citation favorite), women rated darker-hued men more attractive and preferable than paler ones. This preference for darker men is also seen in the work of van den Berghe (1986.) Whatever the mix of physiological and psychological factors involved, here is the opposite side of the coin that "HBD" types in various places duck away from or inadvertently reveal when they pump up the "colored" primitivism meme. The identification of dark males (such as black athletes in the United States) with sexual vigor, virility and potency has long been noted by scholars, and is one social example confirming the Frost et al data. (John Hoberman, 1997. Darwin's Athletes: How Sport Has Damaged Black America and Preserved the Myth of Race) The obsession with dark male potency by assorted "HBD" authors like JP RUshton is also telling, including Rushton's trembling "self-assessment" of penis size and feared inadequacy, and his ludicrous "research" methods involving paying random male respondents he met to measure their penis sizes. and ejac ranges. (JP Rushton discussed in Brace 1996, "Racialism and Racist Agendas" - Reviewed work(s):Race, Evolution, and Behavior: A Life History Perspective by J. Philippe Rushton. American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 98, No. 1 pp. 176-177)
Standards of beauty are culturally driven and varyfrom place to place, thus undermining HBD claims to have found some sort of "universal" standards, but the conclusions when the tables are turned as noted above, is also what they avoid as well.
Notes:
Frost (1994a). Geographic distribution of human skin colour: A selective compromise between natural selection and sexual selection? Human Evolution, 9, 141-153.
Frost, P. (1994b). Preference for darker faces in photographs at different phases of the menstrual cycle: Preliminary assessment of evidence for a hormonal relationship, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 79, 507-514.
van den Berghe, P.L. & P. Frost. (1986). Skin color preference, sexual dimorphism, and sexual selection: A case of gene-culture co-evolution?, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 9, 87-113.
Race, Evolution, and Behavior: A Life History Perspective by J. Philippe Rushton. American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 98, No. 1 pp. 176-177)
QUOTE:
"Another god in the racist pantheon Herrnstein and
Murray employ as a source is Philippe Rushton, a
Canadian psychologist who has received worldwide
attention for his racial theories. Rushton is known particularly
for his argument that brain size and penis size are inversely
proportional.. To prove his contentions about the races,
Rushton has conducted research at shopping malls, where
he asks men from different racial groups to specify the distance
their semen travels during ejaculation. ." --Joe L. Kincheloe 2009. Measured Lies: The Bell Curve Examined
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5) The attempt to conjure a "primitive African holdover" model left behind by a newer shinier white "evo" model falls dismally flat for 2 reasons- in both newer and older eras it was the "coloreds" that were making or bringing the progressive advances. (a) It was the "primitive colored" types that inaugurated several advances in Europe circa 50-35kya- such as the famous cave paintings, new tools etc etc. The people of this "early progressive" era looked like the dreaded negro types. It was the so-called "primitives" of "colored stock" that got that job done, not allegedly "advanced" "white" models. Cro-magnons. as Brace 2005 sardonically notes as to modern European fantasies, are not "us". If anything, the "true white" types (cold-adapted, red hair, hairy etc) were represented in the Neanderthals. These were actually DISPLACED by the "negro types" of anatomically modern humanity.
(b)Yet another wave of even more advanced "colored types" came to Europe as the Neolithic era dawned as Brace 2005 (The Questionable COntribution) showed. This Neolithic wave brought several advances to Europe - in tool-making, plant/animal domestication, etc etc. As Brace shows THEY TOO looked like the dreaded "coloreds" not today's whites. The Neolithics did not do it all- they had to work with and borrowed and adapted from the native "first wave" "coloreds" and variants already there, but the point is that it was "the coloreds" bringing the wave of advance.
Thus in two time periods- the earlier Paleo eon, and the Neolithic era, the "negro types" were well in place, and far from being "primitive" or "archaic"- they were actually the ones bringing progressive technological and cultural advances to Europe.
Hence the "primitive coloreds" versus "shiny white people" model is completely debunked. Alack and alas, when "HBD" claims are examined and put to the test as shown above, they fall woefully short, and not surprisingly, so it goes.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FROM THE EVO BLOG- IT ACKNOWLEDGES THE "COLORED" NATURE OF THOSE EARLY EUROS- though going on the push the dubious selection as primary meme "These changes were driven not so much by adaptation to the natural environment as by intense female-female competition for mates. Men were in short supply among early Europeans, especially among those who pursued reindeer herds across the northern and eastern plains. This was because of 1) very long hunting distances, which greatly increased death rates among young men; and 2) limited opportunities for food gathering, which made women dependent on men for provisioning and thus ruled out polygyny for all but the ablest of hunters. With too many women competing for too few men, conditions were optimal for sexual selection of women. Men were able to translate their subtlest preferences into mate choice. Intense sexual selection is particularly indicated by a shift to brightly colored traits, especially color polymorphisms—such as those of eye and hair color (Frost, 2006).
How did Europeans look previously? They probably looked distinctly non-European. Holliday, as already discussed, noted the ‘tropical’ and even African appearance of early modern humans in Europe. Other anthropologists have noted the same, particularly in relation to a pair of skeletons discovered in 1901 at Grimaldi, northern Italy. The skeletons were initially dated to the beginnings of modern human occupation in Europe, c. 30,000 BP. Associated artifacts have since been radiocarbon dated to 14,000-19,000 BP but may come from more recent layers of occupation (Bisson et al., 1996).
These skeletons exhibit an array of dental and morphological characteristics normally found in sub-Saharan Africans. As Boule and Vallois (1957, pp. 285) report:
When we compare the dimensions of the bones of their limbs, we see that the leg was very long in proportion to the thigh, the forearm very long in proportion to the whole arm; and that the lower limb was exceedingly long relative to the upper limb. Now these proportions reproduce, but in greatly exaggerated degree, the characters presented by the modern Negro. …
The skulls likewise look non-European. The face is wide but not high. The nose is broad and flat. The upper jaw projects forward whereas the chin is weakly developed. The well-preserved dentition is not at all European. Among currently living populations, the ones who most closely resemble the Grimaldi humans seem to be the Khoisan peoples of southern Africa. Boule and Vallois (1957, pp. 290-291) write:
For our part, we have been greatly struck by the resemblances these Grimaldi Negroids bear to the group of South African tribes, the Bushmen and the Hottentots. Comparisons which we have been able to make with the material at our disposal, in particular with the skeleton of the Hottentot Venus, have led us to note, for instance, the same dolichocephalic character, the same prognathism, the same flattening of the nose, the same development of the breadth of the face, the same form of jaw, and the same great size of teeth. The only differences are to be found in the stature and perhaps in the height of the skull.
We know less about their soft-tissue characteristics. Alongside the skeletons were a number of female statuettes with big breasts, protruding bellies, full hips, and large buttocks. The hair seems to be short and matted (Boule & Vallois, 1957, p. 311).
These Grimaldi humans may have been ancestral to later European populations:
Verneau has investigated the survivals of the Grimaldi race at different prehistoric periods. He has first of all compared this type with the Cro-Magnon, which succeeded it in place. ‘At first sight’, he says, ‘the two races appear to differ greatly from each other; but on examining them in detail, we see that there is no reason why they should not have had some ties of kinship.’ Verneau even declares that the Grimaldi Negroids ‘may have been the ancestors of the hunters of the Reindeer Age’. (Boule & Vallois, 1957, p. 291).
Interestingly, Grimaldi-like humans are reported to have persisted in parts of Europe as late as the Neolithic:
Verneau likewise discovered, in both prehistoric and modern races, survivals or reappearances of the Grimaldi types.
‘In Brittany, as well as in Switzerland and in the north of Italy, there lived in the Polished Stone period, in the Bronze Age and during the early Iron Age, a certain number of individuals who differed in certain characters from their contemporaries’, in particular in the dolichocephalic character of their skull, in possessing a prognathism that was sometimes extreme, and a large grooved nose. This is a matter of partial atavism which in certain cases, as in the Neolithic Breton skull from Conguel, may attain to complete atavism. Two Neolithic individuals from Chamblandes in Switzerland are Negroid not only as regards their skulls but also in the proportions of their limbs. Several Ligurian and Lombard tombs of the Metal Ages have also yielded evidences of a Negroid element.
Since the publication of Verneau’s memoir, discoveries of other Negroid skeletons in Neolithic levels in Illyria and the Balkans have been announced. The prehistoric statues, dating from the Copper Age, from Sultan Selo in Bulgaria are also thought to portray Negroids. In 1928 René Bailly found in one of the caverns of Moniat, near Dinant in Belgium, a human skeleton of whose age it is difficult to be certain, but which seems definitely prehistoric. It is remarkable for its Negroid characters, which give it a resemblance to the skeletons from both Grimaldi and Asselar.
It is not only in prehistoric times that the Grimaldi race seems to have made its influence felt. Verneau has been able to see, now in modern skulls and now in living subjects, in the Italian areas of Piedmont, Lombardy, Emilia, Tuscany, and the Rhone Valley, numerous characters of the old fossil race (Boule & Vallois, pp. 291-292).
Although the concept of atavism or ‘throwback’ is no longer widely accepted, there may have been some human groups in Europe that still looked African long after most had moved away from this phenotype. Indeed, if sexual selection were the cause, the phenotypic transformation should have occurred unevenly, beginning among populations on the former steppe-tundra of northern and eastern Europe, and then percolating outward through gene flow. In some peripheral regions, the transformation may still have been incomplete at the dawn of history.
Observations similar to those of Boule and Vallois have appeared elsewhere in the literature. Angel (1972) noted that 14% of skeletal samples from early Neolithic Greece displayed apparently Negroid traits, in contrast to later periods.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not seeming to realize how they are undermining their own claims, they go on to admit that the allegedly "unforgiving" Euro environment that caused the alleged "man shortage" and more Miss Daisy types, is not all it seems.. rather the Euro environment was one of rich resources as noted by the very scholars they reference.. Hoffecker (2002, pp. 7-8):
QUOTE:
"Hunter-gatherer diet is strongly influenced by latitude and temperature. To begin with, energy demands increase significantly in cold climates and caloric intake in arctic environments may be as much as 30 percent higher than it is in tropical regions. The percentage of meat and fish in the diet of recent hunter-gatherers increases as temperature, moisture, and primary productivity decline, and equals or exceeds 80 percent among most peoples who live in areas with an effective temperature of 10 degrees C or less. …"Hoffecker, J.F. (2002). Desolate Landscapes. Ice-Age Settlement in Eastern Europe. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.
------------------------------------------
The high protein-fat diet and hunting and fishing subsistence of hunter-gatherers in northern environments has major implications for foraging strategy. Although cold maritime settings often provide rich concentrations of aquatic resources that require limited mobility, hunter-gatherers in northern continental environments who subsist on terrestrial mammals must forage across large areas in order to secure highly dispersed and mobile prey.
--------------------------------------
As Jochim (1983, p. 214) notes:
“The low-latitude tundras and park-tundras of glacial Europe were richer than any modern northern counterparts.” Jochim, M.A. (1983). Palaeolithic cave art in ecological perspective. In Hunter-Gatherer Economy in Prehistory. A European Perspective. G. Bailey (Ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
----------------------
Long intense sunlight favored a lush growth of mosses, lichens, and low shrubs that fed herds of large herbivores, mainly wild reindeer (a.k.a. caribou) but also mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, horse, bison, red deer, roe deer aurochs, ibex, chamois, saiga antelope, muskox, giant deer, wild ass, elk, and wild boar (Butzer, 1964, p. 138).
----------------------------
^^Thus in two time periods- the early Paleo
eon, and the Neolithic era, it was the dreaded
"colored" or "negro types" that were advanced,
were well in place, and far from being "primitive"
or "archaic"- they were actually the ones bringing
progressive technological and cultural advances
to Europe.