Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1979, Page 57

Anthropological and Genetic Studies of the Faroese
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Population Number Arches Loops Whorls Sources
FAROES 297 9.6 73.9 16.5 Present Study
ICELAND 1572 7.5 70.0 22.5 Palsson & Schwidetzky, 1973.
ORKNEY 7B4 6.8 66.7 26.5 Boyce, Holdsworth & Brothwell, 1973.
SHETLAND 424 6.2 67.2 26.5 Berry & Muir, 1975.
ENGLAND 1000 5.0 68.9 26.1 Holt, 1968.
DENMARK 101511* 5.7 65.0 29.3 Bugge, 1932.
DENMARK — 4.8 67.8 27.7 Biswas, 1963.
NORWAY — 7.4 66.9 25.7 Biswas, 1963.
* predominantly males.
Table 3. Percentage frequencies of dermatoglyphic patiern types for a
numher of populations.
show distinctive and interesting values (Table 3). The fre-
quency of whorls is very low and is counterbalanced by high
frequencies of loops and, particularly, arches. A similar trend
is apparent in the data for Iceland but is less pronounced than
in the results for the Faroese. For a more detailed analysis the
subjects were again divided, as before, into regional subgroups
and a complex but fascinating picture emerged. In both males
and females the mixed origin group had strikingly different fre-
quencies of arches from the Northern, Central and Southern
groups (there were too few people from the Western region
to constitute a group). But whereas in the males the mixed
origin group had a considerably higher frequency of arches
than the regional groups, in the females the opposite was the
case.
In the past partial isolation and intermarriage would have
enhanced the variation between regional communities. The
difference between the regional groups and the mixed origin
groups suggests that the greater genetic heterogeneity presum-