Color of the skin. Anthropological classification


We say that people can be black or white, but these two colors by no means exhaust the richness of the color shades of human skin. The color of a person’s skin mainly depends on where on the planet his ancestors lived.

Scientists have experimentally proven theories about how people developed different shades of skin color (but these are just theories for now). Skin color depends on a substance called melanin. The more melanin in our skin, the darker it is.
When a white-skinned person spends a lot of time in the sun, a lot of melanin is formed in his skin, in other words, he tans. Albinos, who lack melanin in their bodies, have pinkish skin and reddish eyes. This color is due to the translucency of blood vessels through the skin and colorless tissues of the eye. Albinos have completely white hair. The deposition of melanin in the skin is a protective reaction to ultraviolet radiation from the sun, which can cause skin cancer. As a light shield, melanin absorbs ultraviolet rays and helps protect the skin from damage. The more melanin in the skin, the darker it is and the better protected from ultraviolet radiation. Knowing the importance of melanin in the skin, scientists have developed ideas about how differences in the amount of melanin deposited in the skin appeared among different human races and how these differences developed over millions of years.
The large amount of melanin in the skin protects it from ultraviolet radiation. Our distant ancestors were covered with a thin layer of wool, which protected their skin from the intense ultraviolet radiation of the hot African sun. Hundreds of thousands of years have passed. As humanity developed, people began to give birth to babies without hair on their bodies. Why? No one knows this. But gradually the light spotted skin of our ancestors turned out to be completely unprotected from the scorching rays of the sun.
Since dark skin provides better protection from the sun, those individuals that were born darker than their counterparts received an advantage in terms of survival. Since dark skin color was inherited and had the advantages of natural selection, over time the skin color of the inhabitants of Africa became dark. People spread all over the Earth. Those who found their way to the cold north found the climate there was by no means African. In Europe, for example, sunlight is much weaker, especially in winter. This climate also has its disadvantages. Too much UV rays are harmful, but too little is even worse. Ultraviolet rays are vital for us: under the influence of this radiation, vitamin D is produced in the skin, without which the formation of strong, durable bones is impossible in the body. The earliest humans may have had light mottled skin, similar to the skin of a chimpanzee underneath its fur. The dimmer light of the European sun contains much less ultraviolet rays than sunlight in Africa. The first problems probably arose among the dark-skinned aliens, whose skin blocked what little ultraviolet radiation remained in the rays of the northern sun. Some children developed rickets, in which the bones became soft and fragile, they were easily bent and broken. Therefore, in Europe, children born with a lighter skin tone received an advantage in terms of survival. And again, over time, people with white skin became more numerous than dark-skinned ones. In weak winter light, pale skin remains permeable to ultraviolet rays, the child receives enough of them, vitamin D is formed in his skin, and he does not develop rickets. But in bright light in summer, pale skin becomes tanned and transmits ultraviolet rays to a lesser extent. As man explored the spaces of our planet, skin color adapted to the climatic conditions in which people found themselves. The lightest skin is found in people who live under the pale skies of Scandinavia. In sunnier climates, skin color can range from golden to light brown. Africans and Australian Aborigines have the darkest skin. Recently, as people began to move more freely around the world and enter into mixed marriages, the clear division into races was broken, and now people with different skin colors live in any climate.

We say that people can be black or white, but these two colors by no means exhaust the richness of the color shades of human skin. The color of a person’s skin mainly depends on where on the planet his ancestors lived.

Scientists have experimentally confirmed theories about how people developed different shades of skin color (but so far these are only theories).

What determines skin color?

Skin color depends on a substance called melanin. The more melanin in our skin, the darker it is. When a white-skinned person spends a lot of time in the sun, a lot of melanin is formed in his skin, in other words, he tans. Albinos, who lack melanin in their bodies, have pinkish skin and reddish eyes. This color is due to the translucency of blood vessels through the skin and colorless tissues of the eye. Albinos have completely white hair.

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What is melanin needed for?

The deposition of melanin in the skin is a protective response to ultraviolet radiation from the sun, which can cause skin cancer. As a light shield, melanin absorbs ultraviolet rays and helps protect the skin from damage. The more melanin in the skin, the darker it is and the better protected from ultraviolet radiation. Knowing the importance of melanin in the skin, scientists have developed ideas about how differences in the amount of melanin deposited in the skin appeared among different human races and how these differences developed over millions of years.

Interesting fact: The large amount of melanin in the skin protects it from ultraviolet radiation.

How did people develop different shades of skin color?

Our distant ancestors were covered with a thin layer of wool, which protected their skin from the intense ultraviolet radiation of the hot African sun. Hundreds of thousands of years have passed. As humanity developed, people began to give birth to babies without hair on their bodies. Why? No one knows this. But gradually the light spotted skin of our ancestors turned out to be completely unprotected from the scorching rays of the sun.

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Since dark skin provides better protection from the sun, those individuals that were born darker than their counterparts received an advantage in terms of survival. Since dark skin color was inherited and had the advantages of natural selection, over time the skin color of the inhabitants of Africa became dark. People spread all over the Earth. Those who found their way to the cold north found the climate there was by no means African. In Europe, for example, sunlight is much weaker, especially in winter. This climate also has its disadvantages.

Too much UV rays are harmful, but too little is even worse. Ultraviolet rays are vital for us: under the influence of this radiation, vitamin D is produced in the skin, without which the formation of strong, durable bones is impossible in the body.

Interesting: the earliest humans may have had light, mottled skin similar to that of a chimpanzee underneath its fur.

The dimmer light of the European sun contains much less ultraviolet rays than sunlight in Africa. The first problems probably arose among the dark-skinned aliens, whose skin blocked what little ultraviolet radiation remained in the rays of the northern sun. Some children developed rickets, in which the bones became soft and fragile, they were easily bent and broken.

Why do people have different skin colors?

People with the whitest skin can be seen in northern Europe and are classified as the Nordic type. The people with the darkest skin live in West Africa. The skin of the inhabitants of Southeast Asia is yellowish. However, most people are not white, black or yellow, but come in hundreds of shades of light, dark or brown.

What is the reason for all these differences in people's skin color? The explanation lies in the chemical processes that occur in the body and skin. Skin tissue contains color components called "chromogens" that are themselves colorless. When certain enzymes act on them, the corresponding skin color appears.

Imagine that a person does not have chromogens or his enzymes do not work correctly on them. Such a person is called an “albino.” This happens to people all over the world. There are albinos in Africa, and they are “whiter” than any white person!

Human skin by itself, without any substance, is milky white. But to this is added a tint of yellow due to the presence of yellow pigment in the skin. Another color component of skin is black, due to the presence of tiny melanin granules. This substance is brown in color, but in large quantities it appears black. Another shade is brought into the skin by the red color of the blood circulating through its tiny vessels. Each person's skin color depends on the ratio in which these four colors - white, yellow, black and red - are combined. All skin colors of the human race can be produced by different combinations of these color components that we all have.

Sunlight has the ability to form melanin, a black pigment, in the skin. Therefore, people living in the tropics have more of this pigment and darker skin. If you spend multiple days in the sun, the sun's ultraviolet rays also create more melanin in your skin, resulting in a sun tan!

People are different: black, white, and also brown: from light to dark. Skin color varies from continent to continent. Where did this diversity come from? What does a person depend on? What is melanin? Let's figure it out.

Melanin. What is this?

In medical terms, melanin is synthesized in skin cells called melanocytes. Interestingly, it is present in the majority of animals, including humans. It is the pigment melanin that gives the skin its various shades. It is synthesized in two leading forms, the color of which can vary from yellow to dark brown and black. Eumelanin is a form of melanin that gives skin its brown color. The second form of melanin is pheomelanin, which has a reddish-brown hue. Thanks to pheomelanin, people have freckles or fiery red hair.

Today, almost every person knows about genetics. Each of us has inherited from our parents a set of chromosomes, including those responsible for human skin color. The more active genes in the cells, the darker the skin color. Not long ago, one could observe a unique case in one family where twins with different skin colors were born. But in addition to genetic predisposition, melanin production is also influenced by external factors.

The effect of melanin on humans

Every person on our planet has approximately the same number of melanocytes. This fact proves that all people on the planet, be it white-skinned men or black girls, have the same skin. The question arises in the synthesis of melanin by an individual organism and some external factors. Under the influence of ultraviolet radiation, human skin begins to produce more melanin. This helps prevent DNA damage in human skin.

This process has not yet been fully studied, but thanks to the body’s protective reaction, our skin remains undamaged. And among people living in the equator region, where the sun's rays scorch mercilessly, the skin acquired its characteristic dark color.

Program crash

But unfortunately, there are exceptions to the rules. Today you can observe a rare disease - albinism. It is characterized by the absence of melanin in skin cells. This process is observed in both animals and humans. We enjoy watching snow-white animals, for example, you can see something magnificent, but if this happens to a person, it is truly a tragedy. A person cannot stay in the open sun for a long time; his skin instantly burns. The body suffers from severe radiation.

There is another failure in the genetic program caused by the progressive loss of melanocytes - vitiligo. In this case, the skin becomes patchy. Whatever the predominant color of a person’s skin, with this disease it sometimes becomes completely white. And as a result, a naturally dark-skinned person can become completely white. Unfortunately, today genetic defects are incurable.

Light-skinned inhabitants of the planet

An interesting fact is that representatives of the white-skinned population make up 40% of all humanity. As we have already said, the genetically light color of human skin is due to the activity of melanin in cells. If we take into account that the people who settled around the planet had facial features and skin color characteristic of a certain group, then over time the isolation of the group led to the formation of a light-skinned race. The bulk of such people live in Europe, Asia and North Africa.

The color of a person’s skin, as already mentioned, also depends on external factors. For example, people in Northern Europe have lighter skin than Asians. are less active in the north, and therefore it is easier for white people to get the vitamin D the body needs. Although it should be noted that there are northern peoples who have enough According to scientists, this also depends on food.

Interestingly, in people with fair skin, melanin in the upper layers of the epidermis is present in single copies. Eye color also depends on which layer of the iris contains a large amount of melanin. If this is the first layer, then the eyes will be brown, and if the fourth or fifth layers, then, respectively, blue or green.

Black people

The majority of the dark-skinned population lives in Central and Southern Africa. People in this climate zone are exposed to intense sun exposure. And exposure to ultraviolet radiation causes the synthesis of melanin in the human body, which has a protective function. The result of constant exposure to the sun is dark skin.

A distinctive feature at the genetic level in people with black skin is that their cells produce melanin in large quantities. In addition, as scientists have found, the upper layer of the epidermis in such people completely covers the skin with pigment. This fact gives the skin a color ranging from brown to almost black.

An interesting fact is that the melanin pigment appears in humans during embryonic development. But by the time of birth, melanocytes practically disappear from the baby’s body, and after birth they begin to develop intensively in the skin. Many people are surprised when they see light-colored babies from a dark-skinned mother. The fact is that babies are born light and darken over the next few months.

In conclusion

Currently, science is based on the fact that human skin color is the result of adaptation of a certain group of people to the intensity of solar radiation in their place of residence. Melanin in this case carries out protective functions against ultraviolet radiation from the sun; in its absence, the skin would decrepit very quickly. In addition to aging, the risk of skin cancer increases.

Interestingly, women have slightly lighter skin than men. This is why black girls look much lighter than guys. In people with light dermis, this difference is practically not noticeable. Unfortunately, in today's world, skin color often creates stereotypes. The division of humanity on this basis often leads to But we all belong to the same species and are human.

On Midgard-Earth there live people with different skin colors and a certain territory of residence. This Earthly humanity has ancestors who arrived on Midgard-Earth from various Heavenly Halls - Star Systems, namely: the Great Race - white skin color;
Great Dragon - yellow skin color;
Fire Snake - red skin color;
Gloomy Wasteland - black skin color;
Pekelnogo Mir - gray skin color, foreigners.
The allies of the White Race in the battle with the Forces of Darkness were the People from the Hall of the Great Dragon. They were allowed to settle on Earth, having determined a place in the South-East, at the rise of the Yarilo-Sun. Modern China.

Another ally, the people from the Hall of the Fire Serpent, was assigned a place on the lands in the Atlantic Ocean. Subsequently, with the arrival of the Clans of the Great Race to them, this Land began to be called Antlan, i.e. The land of the Ants, the ancient Greeks called it Atlantis.

After the death of Antlani, righteous people with the skin color of the Sacred Fire, the Heavenly Power (Vaitmara) transferred them east to the boundless Lands at the sunset of Yarila-Sun lying... (American continent).

In ancient times, the possessions of the Country of Black People covered not only the African continent, but also part of Hindustan. The Indian tribes of the Dravidians and Nagas belonged to the Negroid peoples and worshiped the Goddess Kali-Ma - the Goddess of the Black Mother.

Our Ancestors gave them the Vedas - Sacred Texts, now known as the Indian Vedas (Hinduism).

Having learned about the eternal Heavenly Laws, such as the Law of Karma, Incarnation and Reincarnation, and others, they abandoned obscene deeds, bloody human sacrifices to the Goddess Kali-Ma and the Black Dragons.

The enemy of the Great Race and other Races on Midgard-Earth are representatives of the Pekel World, who secretly penetrated onto Midgard-Earth, so the territory of residence is not defined.

God Perun calls them Foreigners (Jews). They have gray skin, their eyes are the color of Darkness, and they are bisexual (initially), they could be a wife or a husband (hermaphrodites, whose sexual orientation changed depending on the phases of the Moon).

They paint their faces with paints to look like the Children of Men... They never take off their clothes in public.

They create all kinds of false religious cults and specifically try to destroy or denigrate the Cult of God Perun, for he warned:

“They covet everything that belongs to others, that does not belong to them... All their thoughts are only about power. The goal of the Aliens is to disrupt the harmony reigning in the World of Light and destroy the Descendants of the Heavenly Family and the Great Race, for only they can give a worthy rebuff to the Forces of the Inferno...

Using lies and very flattering words, they gain the trust of the residents; as soon as they gain trust from the residents, they begin to comprehend their Ancient Heritage. Having learned everything that is possible in the Ancient Heritage, they begin to interpret it in their favor.

They declare themselves to be God's messengers, but they only bring strife and war to the world. Using cunning and vicious deeds, they turn the young away from Wisdom, and teach them to live in idle idleness, to disobey their father’s traditions. They do not know about Heavenly Honor and Truth, because there is no Conscience in their hearts...

With lies and unrighteous flattery they will capture many edges of Midgard-Earth, but they will be defeated and exiled to the country of the Man-Made Mountains (Egypt), where people with skin the color of Darkness and the Descendants of the Heavenly Family will live. And people will begin to teach them to work, so that they themselves can feed their children...

But the lack of desire to work will unite the Aliens and they will leave the country of the Man-Made Mountains and settle throughout all the edges of Midgard-Earth...

Millions of lives will be taken by senseless wars to please the desires of the Aliens, for the more wars and deaths there are, the more wealth the messengers of the World of Darkness will gain.

To achieve their goals, the Dark Forces will even use Fire Mushrooms, bringing death, which will rise above Midgard-Earth.”