Physical anthropological data on "Vedic Aryans"?

[JoshK]

Are guys like Hrithik Roshan nordindid in the robust med sense as well? i read someone saying he has nordoid tendencies.

Hrithik Roshan's Nordindid component essentially exhibits [Keltic] Nordiform in some aspects, but also being altered by Robust Mediterranid admixture in some other aspects.

[Nigel]

Here are some quotes from the Vedas and some other ancient Hindu texts.

Source: Atharva Veda.6.137.2
>> May thy hairs grow as reeds, may they cluster, black, about thy head!


Source: Atharva Veda.6.137.3
>> Brahmins have strong black hair.


Source: Dharma-Sutra 1:2
>> Let him [the Brahmin Priest] kindle the sacrificial fire while his hair is still black


Light hair has been seen in ancient times as a trait from the races outside of the territory of Aryavarta which they called Mleccha which means barbarian.
Seems like original Aryans had black hair.

[Kshatriya]

Light hair has been seen in ancient times as a trait from the races outside of the territory of Aryavarta which they called Mleccha which means barbarian.

I would really like a source for this, preferably quotes from ancient Hindu texts and the like. While I agree that blonde hair has always been deemed aberrant in Indian culture, very brown haired individuals are discernable among certain sections of North-West India. The coloured hair-edness of the Indo-Aryans is preserved among the tribes living in the valleys formed by the Upper Indus and its tributaries of the Swat, Panjkora, Kunar, and Chitral it is found in its purest forms, specifically in the Hindu Kush mountains, as a few posters have already pointed out. The famous Kalash tribes of Pakistan possess a high ratio of blondism. Thirty-four per cent have mixed or light eyes and their hair colour tends to be anywhere from blond to light brunette. Recent statistics put the % of coloured haired-ness at 28 percent. This pigmentation is nothing special, really. It is merely an adaptation to the altitudes they inhabit. Light hair and light eye colors are recessive/subdominant factors and rather widespread genetically in most Northern and bordering populations. These tribes' societies tend to be very endogamous, thus sexual selection, selective pressure and isolation + genetic drift can easily be the cause of the high occurence of light pigment. But for sure, the Vedic Aryans had a sizeable blonde population, that got eliminated due to varying factors and adaptation to Indian climate.

[Nigel]

They associated light hair with Scythians who were seen by the Aryans as Mleccha = Barbarian, thus a Barbarian trait.

[newtoboard]

Good thread.

Can someone post what they think a proto Indo-Iranian looked like vs later West Asian admixed Indo-Iranians?

And what type of pigmentation for each group? And maybe make a comment on the type of light eyes found in Europeans vs near easterners and relate that to the topic?

[Italian Norman]

There are datas on the argument. All points out that in later Harappan times the intrusive sub-race was the Alpinid, not found in the earlier stages of Harappa. BTW the original spreaders of IE languages were the guys in my avatar:

-Basic White (Eurafrican)
-Classic Mediterranid
-Irano-Afghanid
-Low Eastern Alpinid

[newtoboard]

There are datas on the argument. All points out that in later Harappan times the intrusive sub-race was the Alpinid, not found in the earlier stages of Harappa. BTW the original spreaders of IE languages were the guys in my avatar:

-Basic White (Eurafrican)
-Classic Mediterranid
-Irano-Afghanid
-Low Eastern Alpinid

That is not true. Harappans were in general terms Med and Alpo-Dinaric. The intrusive elementare Nordid~East Cromagnoid~Robust Med (something resembling Pontid)~Iranid~Armenoid.

---------- Post added 2012-06-19 at 03:47 ----------

I think many were Robust Med though ie Atlantid or Pontid.

[Italian Norman]

That is not true. Harappans were in general terms Med and Alpo-Dinaric. The intrusive elementare Nordid~East Cromagnoid~Robust Med (something resembling Pontid)~Iranid~Armenoid.

---------- Post added 2012-06-19 at 03:47 ----------

I think many were Robust Med though ie Atlantid or Pontid.

Only one of what you mention is right: Iranid. Show me what you say, show the intrusive East Nordid. And what you say is not correct, Harappans weren't Alpo-Dinarids. Show proofs for this, also.

[ashwinb]

That is not true. Harappans were in general terms Med and Alpo-Dinaric. The intrusive elementare Nordid~East Cromagnoid~Robust Med (something resembling Pontid)~Iranid~Armenoid.
I think many were Robust Med though ie Atlantid or Pontid.

Were the harappans alpo-dinaric, is that a reason why many indians are associated with the same phenotype(particularly from western india)?