Posted by kosta on May 25, 2002 at 22:57:17:
In Reply to: Re: what about the influence of the franks/venetians on the islands? posted by Gertrude on May 25, 2002 at 20:01:59:
: Anyway my point is this:
: 200,000 Franks settled in Cyprus and more or less mixed with locals.
That number of people isn't enough to put a serious dent in the overall population character. Also, the dominant racial element among Franks is the Alpine. Most Cypriots are Dinarics and Armenoids; these are simply blends of Alpines with various types of Mediterraneans, so in a sense, the Franks never added anything new racially . They just re-introduced more of one of the existing "ingredients."
: 3.Most (but definitely not all) coastal Cypriots are dark in complexion.
Keep in mind, though, that Cyprus is not really a "Greek" land; Cyprus is/was a *colony* of Greeks, just like Sicily or the Crimea. The dark Cypriots are very likely aboriginal inhabitants, akin to Anatolians, who are only Hellenic in culture. The original inhabitants of Cyprus couldn't have just dissapeared.
: 4.There is no proof that the Dorians ever reached Cyprus.
But there is plenty of proof of other non-Frankish sources for hair/eye blondism on Cyprus. Anthropological remains on Cyprus attest to the fact that the island has been inhabited by various Indo-Europeans for a very long time. Also, islands support recessive phenotypical traits like blue eyes better than continental regions. All Greek Islanders that I've met seem to have a higher incidence of blue eyes than other Greeks. The incidence of light/light-mixed eye color on Crete, for instance, is recorded at about 60% of the population. Those are a lot of light eyes.