Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1979, Page 64

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Anthropological and Genetic Studies of the Faroese
and as communication between the islands continues to im-
prove the conditions necessary for genetic drift will be redu-
ced. At the present time the most important influence upon
the distribution of genetic characteristics in the Faroe Islands
is probably the population movement which is taking place
from the more remote regions to the growing urban centres.
In summary, this study has indicated that the Faroese and
Icelanders resemble one another anthropometrically and have
similar dermatoglyphic features. Both have a higher proportion
of dark hair than other Scandinavian populations implying
some Celtic admixture in their background. Comparative data
for skin reflectance values are unfortunately not available for
Scandinavian populations but the Faroese are much paler than
United Kingdom populations. In levels of colour vision defi-
ciency the Faroese are intermediate between values for Orkney
and Norway but owing to the small Faroese sample size inter-
pretation of this finding must be very tentative. Resemblance
between the Faroese and Icelanders implies a similar ethnic
composition of the two populations but the relative contri-
butions of Norse Vikings and other peoples remain obscure.
However the analysis of the large number of genetic systems
which will be carried out on the blood samples will enable a
more precise determination of the relative genetic affinities of
the Faroese and various neighbouring populations.
Acknowledgements
The authors want to express their gratitude to Dr. H. Debes
Joensen, M. D., chief medical officer of the Faroe Islands, who
took very great interest in this study and assisted the authors
in all respects during their stay in the Islands. Thanks are also
due to the schoolmasters of the schools in Klaksvík, Tvøroyri
and Vágur and to the staff of the Teachers Training College,
the Secondary School and the Navigation School in Tórshavn.
Without the understanding and enthusiasm of the students of
these schools it would have been impossible to obtain the re-
sults described in the present report. During the expedition