Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1979, Page 61

Anthropological and Genetic Studies of the Faroese
69
inner surface of the upper arm and the forehead, chosen be-
cause the former is protected, the latter exposed to the tanning
effects of the ultra violet component of sunlight. The majority
of subjects were drawn from upper secondary and H F school
grades in Klaksvík, Tórshavn, Tvøroyri and Vágur but students
from the Navigation Schools in Klaksvík and Tórshavn and
Tórshavn teachers training college were included. A small
number of adults and 4, 8 and 13 years olds were examined
during investigation with the paediatric research group at
Klaksvík hospital. Ages ranged from 4 to 38 in the females
(mean 16.0 years) and 4 to 48 in the males (mean 17.7 years).
The Faroese males have darker skin than the females, a
finding that has been reported for a number of other popu-
lations. Unfortunately EEL reflectance values are not avail-
able for Scandinavian populations, but compared to values for
the Dutch (Rigters-Aris, 1973), Belgians (Leguebe, 1961) and
various British populations (eg. Hulse, 1973; Cartwright,
1975) the Faroese are very pale. Protection from tanning is
afforded by the low solar intensity and necessity to wear heavy
clothing for much of the year, but the paleness of the Faroese
skin may well be a genetically determined characteristic of long
standing. Analysis of the results by regional subsamples gives
no indication of different complexion in different parts of the
islands.
The same pigment, melanin, is responsible for the colouration
of hair, skin and eyes and there is a tendency for the level of
pigmentation in each to be correlated. In the Faroese skin
colour is very pale and hair colours include a high proportion
of the lighter shades. What then of eye colour? The exami-
nation of eye colour was not one of the major investigations
in the Faroes but has been assessed from photographs of 80
of the young men who took part in the anthropometric survey.
77.5 % were found to have blue eyes, the remainder generallv
darker grey/green or brown shades, indicating that in all as-
pects the Faroese population is lightly pigmented.