Genealogy / Why are some Polish people dark complected, and others very light [511]

Essentially, Natural Selection dictates the amount of pigmentation in one's skin, relative to an absolute mandate - The "Prime Directive" : Human reproduction. The human reproductive process can only succeed through it's regulated use of the Vitamin D group.

The Vitamin D group, and it's regulation, here defined as a "Bare Bones" statement : Is dependent on the bodies ability to screen out harmful ultra violet ray's from the sun at a given geographical location, accepting only that amount required.

The body does this through it's secretion of Melanin Pigmentation, which is adaptive, and evolved with the human loss of body hair, the original state of genus Homo. In recent prehistory, we became adept at protecting ourselves from harmful radiation through clothing and shelter, which has reduced the action required by Natural Selection.

If one looks at a map of the earth, and starting at the equator where the sun's ultra violet ray's are maximized, you'll note that here, the cradle of civilization as we know it, human skin Melanin Pigmentation is the greatest, allowing the body to reject the sun's harmful ray's and immediately release the resultant heat. Concurrently, the human body itself has evolved in small ways in support thereof.

As one goes North or South from the equator, in direct proportion, skin pigmentation is decreased based on need - a regulator - producing a steady "supply" of vitamin D. In the extreme Northern and Southern latitudes, the human need for the sun's ray's is absolutely essential, therefore, the body produces virtually 0 pigmentation resulting in skin that appears almost translucent, some "seeing" a pink hue, a result of blood flowing within the body.

I've read that it takes somewhere around 50,000 years for skin pigmentation to change from black to white, or white to black if geographical locations were changed.

Some here may question the presence of the Inupiat and the Yupiks (Eskimo's) presence in these latitudes. It's with these people that Natural Selection has stood still, or move at a snails pace, whereby these "explorers" from the Asiatic tribes of East Asia have failed to drop their heavier pigmentation. There is a reason for this : their diet.

Their bodies are "flooded" with vitamin D through their intake of seal, whale, fish - specifically the "fat" of the animal's. This infusion of vitamin D coupled with the lack of sunlight suffices for reproductive needs. Ergo: The process of Natural Selection is on "pause".

Trivia : The process of Natural Selection applies to all animals and plants. Did you know that the Polar bear, a species of Grizzly Bear, has black skin and it's guard hairs are actually translucent and hollow ?? It's underfur is translucent as well but solid, trapping a layer of air that does not permit the cold sea water to touch the skin. The fur appears white since it reflects light.

24 years living in Alaska.

Genealogy / Why are some Polish people dark complected, and others very light [511]

Good day to the list ~

So far, those associated with such things are unable to gain wide acceptance of an accurate definition or a root source for the word "Slav". You can run a google search and read about their efforts.

In essence, as migrating peoples moved into Europe, a rather large group of individuals, who called themselves Slavs, banded together during their migration and therefore arrived together (more or less) as "One".

They had their own language, a general and somewhat common YDNA sequence, and for the most part experienced all the trials, tribulations, love, and joy associated with any group of immigrants into a "new" country.

As time passed, the Slavic Empire grew to such proportions that it actually got too big and started fracturing into splinter groups who moved outward into newer lands.

The first splinter group is called "Southern Slav's" and consisted of todays Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Slovenia, and Macedonia.

The second group is called the "Western Slav's" which consists of todays Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Sorbia.

The last and biggest group were the "Eastern Slav's", which consists of todays Belarush, Russia, and the Ukraine.

Each group went away with a common language, the Slavic language. As the centuries passed, each group modified the Mother language by changing words, verbage, grammatics, all to suit themselves, their geographics and the pecularities of their location and their individuality.

Today we all consider each language separate and distinct, however, they all stem from a common past. That's why if you speak a Slavic language today, such as Polish, and with some great difficulty you may be able to carry on a limited conversation with say, a Russian.

In the absence of the written word through the early centuries, a simple story has been passed down, Father to Son, common to all Slavic groups mentioned above. It was first found as a written script in 1125 :

--From their Father, the boys left to seek their place in life ~ Czech, Lech, and Russ. They traveled together and eventually found themselves at the banks of the Elbe river. Here Czech settled, starting a large Family and bid his brothers farewell.

Lech and Russ found their way into the turf swamps of the Valdai Hills, the headwaters of the Volga River. Here Russ settled and his children were more numerous than the fingers of both his hands. He bid Lech success in his travels.

Lech eventually came into the lands of Polonia, near what today is the area around Gniezno. As he stood proudly to survey the land for agriculture, a lone tree towards the West caught his attention. Basked in the red glow of the last rays of the setting sun, he spied a White Eagle in branch of the tree.

Here, he thought, I will settle. From this moment onward the White Eagle on a red background is the National Symbol of Poland.

Genealogy / I'm polish and have a darker complexion - WHY? [78]

Good day ~

Select individuals, and sometimes entire Families throughout Poland, and for that matter, throughout Europe have a skin pigmentation that's somewhat darker than what we consider "The Norm".

These select few offer different "shades" of pigmentation, from a light tint to a darker brown and can be compared to any number of ethnicities today, simply because of the way they look.

I have/had several Uncles and Aunts that were/are so affected. As a Pole, I have learned that as a general statement, the root cause is "Latent Genetics" ~ it's all in the Genes as it were.

The process started with the migration path of humans entering Polonia so long ago. They came through the Near East for the most part over a period of decades. Here, through inter-marriage between cultures, in some, the DNA was slightly modified, a normal progression of events given the circumstances.

1240 AD plus and minus, was a time period of conquest by the Khan's of Mongolia. Marriage was not a consideration when the Hord's occupied Polish Lands and pro-creation was one of the top subjects in their "to do" list.

As such, the infusion of Mongol DNA, combined with the modified DNA from the migration, added a "Latent" effect to the offspring of later generations.

When the conditions were correct, at times, a portion of or the entire Mongol DNA overides the expected pigmentation of most Polish People. Consequently, even today, you'll see some Poles with a lighter and/or a darker skin pigmentation than you'd otherwise expect.

Tom Lassek

Genealogy / Why are some Polish people dark complected, and others very light [511]

Good day -

It's all in the Genes (as it were) ! Those who posted comments concerning genetic interaction pretty-much answered the question in terms associated with DNA.

To add two general points -

1. A very great portion of the peoples who migrated into the plains of Polonia did so through the Near East which proved favorable with respect to interculturation, intermarriage and procreation. As a group moving forward, certain individual DNA became slightly "modified".

2. The Mongol Invasions into Poland, Hungary, Russia and others, circa 1240 AD were, logically, responsible for another DNA modification, especially when one considers that during occupation, marriage was not considered an obstacle to human procreation.

At this point, with massive infusion of Mongol DNA into a group already containing Near East DNA modification, the phrase "Latent Genetics" developed {Hidden Genetics} which is still valid today.

If the DNA [YDNA & MTDNA] of a Polish Mother and Father are receptive, sometimes these latent (hidden) genetics trigger an occurance that reflects some of the physical traits of a Family ancestor(s) who were forced to procreate and in some cases where their children were forced to procreate as well during the long occupation.

2.