Three main races. Human races. Division into large human races
Skin color in people
Humanity as a biological species emerged quite a long time ago. Color of the skin the first of people It was unlikely that he was very dark or very white; most likely, some had slightly whiter skin, others - darker. The formation of races on Earth based on skin color was influenced by the natural conditions in which certain groups found themselves. Formation of races on Earth.White and dark skinned people
For example, some people found themselves in the tropical zone of the Earth. Here, the merciless rays of the sun can easily burn a person’s naked skin. From physics we know: black color absorbs the rays of the sun more completely. And that’s why black skin seems to be harmful. But it turns out that only ultraviolet rays burn and can burn the skin. Pigment coloring becomes like a shield protecting human skin. Everyone knows that white man gets sunburned faster than a black person. In the equatorial steppes of Africa, people with dark skin turned out to be more adapted to life, and Negroid tribes descended from them. This is evidenced by the fact that not only in Africa, but also in all tropical regions of the planet, people live dark-skinned people. The first inhabitants of India are very dark-skinned people. In the tropical steppe regions of America, the people living here had darker skin than their neighbors who lived in and hid from the direct rays of the sun in the shade of trees. And in Africa, the indigenous inhabitants of the tropical forests - the pygmies - have lighter skin than their neighbors who are engaged in agriculture and are almost always exposed to the sun.
Indigenous people of Africa. The Negroid race, in addition to skin color, has many other features formed during the development process, and due to the need to adapt to tropical living conditions. For example, curly black hair protects the head well from overheating by direct rays of the sun. Narrow elongated skulls are also one of the adaptations against overheating. The Papuans from New Guinea have the same skull shape (more details:) as well as the Malanesians (more details:). Features such as skull shape and skin color helped all these peoples in the struggle for existence. But why did the white race have whiter skin than primitive people? The reason is the same ultraviolet rays, under the influence of which vitamin B is synthesized in the human body. People of temperate and northern latitudes must have white skin, transparent to sunlight, in order to receive as much ultraviolet radiation as possible. 
Residents of northern latitudes. People with dark skin constantly experienced vitamin starvation and were less resilient than white-skinned people. Mongoloids
Third race - Mongoloids. Under the influence of what conditions were its distinctive features formed? Their skin color, apparently, has been preserved from their most distant ancestors; it is well adapted to the harsh conditions of the North and the hot sun. And here are the eyes. We need to say something special about them. It is believed that the Mongoloids first appeared in areas of Asia located far from all oceans; The continental climate here is characterized by a sharp difference in temperatures between winter and summer, day and night, and the steppes in these parts are interspersed with deserts. Strong winds blow almost continuously and carry huge amounts of dust. In winter there are sparkling tablecloths of endless snow. And today, travelers to the northern regions of our country wear glasses that protect them from this glare. And if they are not there, they are paid with eye disease. An important distinguishing feature of Mongoloids is the narrow slits of the eyes. And the second is a small fold of skin covering the inner corner of the eye. It also protects your eyes from dust.
Mongoloid race. This fold of skin is commonly called the Mongolian fold. From here, from Asia, people with prominent cheekbones and narrow slits of eyes dispersed throughout Asia, Indonesia, Australia, and Africa. Well, is there another place on Earth with a similar climate? Yes, I have. These are some areas of South Africa. They are inhabited by Bushmen and Hottentots - peoples belonging to the Negroid race. However, the Bushmen here usually have dark yellow skin, narrow eyes and a Mongolian fold. At one time they even thought that Mongoloids lived in these parts of Africa, having moved here from Asia. Only later did we figure out this mistake. Division into large human races
Thus, under the influence of purely natural conditions, the main races of the Earth were formed - white, black, yellow. When did it happen? A question like this is not easy to answer. Anthropologists believe that division into large human races occurred no earlier than 200 thousand years ago and no later than 20 thousand. And it was probably a long process that took 180-200 thousand years. How this happened is a new mystery. Some scientists believe that at first humanity was divided into two races - the European, which later divided into white and yellow, and the equatorial, Negroid. Others, on the contrary, believe that first the Mongoloid race separated from the common tree of humanity, and then the Euro-African race was divided into whites and blacks. Well, anthropologists divide large human races into small ones. This division is unstable; the total number of small races varies in the classifications given by different scientists. But there are, of course, dozens of small races. Of course, races differ from each other not only in skin color and eye shape. Modern anthropologists have found a large number of such differences.Criteria for dividing into races
But for what reasons? criteria compare race? By head shape, brain size, blood type? Scientists have not discovered any fundamental signs that would characterize any races for better or worse.Brain weight
It has been proven that brain weight varies among different races. But it is different for different people belonging to the same nationality. So, for example, the brain of the brilliant writer Anatole France weighed only 1077 grams, and the brain of the no less brilliant Ivan Turgenev reached a huge weight - 2012 grams. We can confidently say: between these two extremes all the races of the Earth are located.
Human brain. The fact that the weight of the brain does not characterize the mental superiority of the race is also indicated by the figures: the average brain weight of an Englishman is 1456 grams, and of Indians - 1514, Bantu blacks - 1422 grams, French - 1473 grams. It is known that Neanderthals had greater brain weight than modern humans. It is unlikely that they were smarter than you and me, however. And yet there are still racists on the globe. They are in both the USA and South Africa. True, they do not have any scientific data to confirm their theories. Anthropologists - scientists who study humanity precisely from the perspective of the characteristics of individual people and their groups - unanimously state: All people on Earth, regardless of their nationality and race, are equal. This does not mean that racial and national characteristics do not exist, they do exist. But they do not determine either mental abilities or any other qualities that could be considered decisive for the division of humanity into higher and lower races.We can say that this conclusion is the most important of the conclusions of anthropology. But this is not the only achievement of science, otherwise there would be no point in developing it further. And anthropology is developing. With its help, it was possible to look into the most distant past of humanity and understand many previously mysterious moments. It is anthropological research that allows us to penetrate into the depths of thousands of years, to the very first days of the appearance of man. And that long period of history when people did not yet have writing at their disposal becomes clearer thanks to anthropological research. And of course, the methods of anthropological research have expanded incomparably. If just a hundred years ago, having met a new unknown people, a traveler limited himself to describing them, then at present this is far from enough. The anthropologist must now make numerous measurements, leaving nothing unattended - not the palms of the hands, not the soles of the feet, not, of course, the shape of the skull. He takes blood and saliva, prints of feet and palms for analysis, and takes X-rays.
Blood type
All received data are summarized, and from them special indices are derived that characterize a particular group of people. It turns out that blood types- precisely those blood groups that are used for transfusions - can also characterize the race of people.
Blood type determines race. It has been established that there are most people with the second blood group in Europe and none at all in South Africa, China and Japan, there are almost no third group in America and Australia, and less than 10 percent of Russians have the fourth blood group. By the way, the study of blood groups made it possible to make many important and interesting discoveries. Well, for example, the settlement of America. It is known that archaeologists, who searched for many decades for the remains of the most ancient human cultures in America, had to state that people appeared here relatively late - only a few tens of thousands of years ago. Relatively recently, these conclusions were confirmed by analyzing the ashes of ancient fires, bones, and the remains of wooden structures. It turned out that the figure of 20-30 thousand years quite accurately determines the period that has passed since the days of the first discovery of America by its aborigines - the Indians. And this happened in the Bering Strait region, from where they moved relatively slowly south all the way to Tierra del Fuego. The fact that among the indigenous population of America there are no people with the third and fourth blood groups indicates that the first settlers of the giant continent did not accidentally have people with these groups. The question arises: were there many of these discoverers in this case? Apparently, for this accident to manifest itself, there were few of them. They gave rise to all the Indian tribes with the endless variety of their languages, customs, and beliefs. And further. After this group set foot on Alaskan soil, no one could follow them there. Otherwise, new groups of people would have brought with them one of the important blood factors, the absence of which determines the absence of the third and fourth blood groups among the Indians. But the descendants of the first Columbuses reached the Isthmus of Panama. And although in those days there was no canal separating the continents, this isthmus was difficult to overcome for people: tropical swamps, diseases, wild animals, poisonous reptiles and insects made it possible for another, equally small group of people to overcome it. Proof? Absence of a second blood group among native South Americans. This means that the accident repeated itself: among the first settlers of South America there were also no people with the second blood group, as among the first settlers of North America there were no people with the third and fourth groups... Probably everyone has read Thor Heyerdahl’s famous book “The Journey to Kon-Tiki”. This journey was intended to prove that the ancestors of the inhabitants of Polynesia could have arrived here not from Asia, but from South America. This hypothesis was prompted by a certain commonality between the cultures of the Polynesians and South Americans. Heyerdahl understood that with his magnificent journey he did not provide decisive proof, but most readers of the book, intoxicated by the greatness of the scientific feat and the literary talent of the author, steadily believe that the brave Norwegian was right. And yet, apparently, Polynesians are descendants of Asians, not South Americans. The decisive factor, again, was the composition of the blood. We remember that South Americans do not have a second blood type, but among Polynesians there are many people with this blood type. You are inclined to believe that the Americans did not take part in the settlement of Polynesia... And yet, almost everything that is described here is still a hypothesis. There are scientists who do not believe that racial characteristics have an adaptive significance to environmental conditions: there are scientists who believe that the settlement of America could have been carried out sequentially, in numerous waves, and in the process of changing generations, certain blood factors were displaced. There is not yet enough evidence to support one hypothesis or another. But hypotheses are either replaced by others, or receive more and more confirmation and become coherent theories that explain the formation of races on Earth. Among the variety of characteristics inherent in representatives of different nations, scientists are looking for traits that are typical for large groups of the Earth's population. One of the first scientific classifications of population was proposed by C. Linnaeus. He identified four main groups of people, who are characterized by similarities in skin color, facial features, hair type, and the like. His contemporary Jean-Louis Buffon called them races (Arabic races - beginning, origin). Today, scientists define races not only by the similarity of hereditary features of appearance, but also by the origin of a particular group of people from a certain region of the Earth.
How many races are there on our planet??
Disputes around this issue have continued since the times of C. Linnaeus and J.-L. Buffon. Most scientists distinguish four large races as part of modern humanity - Eurasian (Caucasoid), Equatorial (Negroid), Asian-American (Mongoloid), Australoid.
Origin of races
Let's remember: the view Homo sapiens originated in Africa, from where about 100 thousand years ago its gradual spread throughout Europe and Asia began. People moved into new territories, found places suitable for living, and settled in them. Millennia passed, and separate groups of people reached the northeastern border of Asia. In those days, there was no Bering Strait yet, so a land “bridge” connected Asia and America. This is how immigrants from Asia came to North America. Over time, moving south, they reached South America.
The settlement continued for tens of thousands of years. Scientists believe that during migration, racial characteristics were fixed, which distinguish the inhabitants of different regions of the planet. Some of these signs must be adaptive in nature. Thus, a mop of curly hair among residents of the hot equatorial zone creates an air layer, protects the vessels of the head from overheating, and the dark pigment in the skin adapts to high solar radiation. A wide nose and large lips contribute to increased evaporation of moisture and, accordingly, cooling of the body.
Light skin Caucasians can also be regarded as adaptation to climate. In the body of light-skinned people, vitamin D is synthesized in conditions of low solar radiation. The narrow eye shape of representatives of the Asian-American race protects the eyes from sand during steppe storms.
Thanks to the settlement of people, isolation and mixing became factors in the consolidation of racial characteristics. In primitive society, people united in small isolated communities, where the possibilities of marriage were limited. Therefore, the predominance of one or another racial characteristic often depended on random circumstances. In a small closed community, any hereditary trait can disappear if the person who has this trait leaves no descendants. On the other hand, manifestations of a certain trait can become widespread, since due to the limited number of marriages it is not replaced by other traits. Because of this, for example, the number of dark-haired residents or, conversely, fair-haired ones may increase.
Reasons for the isolation of human communities
The reason for the isolation of human communities There may be geographical barriers (mountains, rivers, oceans). Distance from the main migration routes also leads to isolation. On such a “lost island” people live in isolation, their appearance retains the features of their distant ancestors. For example, the Scandinavians “preserved” physical features that were formed thousands of years ago: blond hair, tall height, and the like. Mixing of races also occurred over many millennia. People born from marriages between representatives of different races are called mestizos. Thus, the colonization of America resulted in many marriages between Indians (representatives of the Mongoloid race) and Europeans. Mestizo people make up about half of the population of modern Mexico. Typically, most racial characteristics in mestizos are weaker compared to the extreme manifestations of these traits: the skin of Mexican mestizos is lighter than that of the Mayans and darker than that of Europeans.
Dr. Don Batten and Dr. Karl Wieland
What are "races"?
How did different skin colors come about?
Is it true that black skin is the result of Noah's curse?
According to the Bible, all people living on Earth descended from Noah, his wife, three sons and three daughters-in-law (and even earlier from Adam and Eve - Genesis 1-11). However, today there are groups of people called “races” living on Earth, whose external characteristics vary significantly. Many view this state of affairs as a reason to doubt the truth of biblical history. It is believed that these groups could only have arisen through separate evolution over tens of thousands of years.
The Bible tells us how the descendants of Noah, who spoke the same language and kept together, disobeyed the Divine command « fill the earth» (Genesis 9:1; 11:4). God confused their languages, after which the people split into groups and were scattered throughout the Earth (Genesis 11:8-9). Modern methods of genetics show how, after the separation of people, variations in external characteristics (for example, skin color) could develop in just a few generations. There is compelling evidence that the different groups of people we see in the modern world were not isolated from each other over vast periods of time.
In fact, on Earth "there is only one race"- a race of people, or the human race. The Bible teaches that God « from one blood... produced the entire human race" (Acts 17:26). The Holy Scripture distinguishes people by tribes and nations, and not by skin color or other features of appearance. Moreover, it is quite obvious that there are groups of people who have common characteristics (for example, the notorious skin color) that distinguish them from other groups. We prefer to call them "groups of people" rather than "races" to avoid evolutionary associations. Representatives of any nations can interbreed freely and produce fertile offspring. This proves that the biological differences between the “races” are very small.
In fact, the differences in DNA composition are extremely small. If you take any two people from any corner of the Earth, then the differences in their DNA will normally be 0.2%. Moreover, the so-called “racial characteristics” will amount to only 6% of this difference (that is, only 0.012%); everything else is within the range of “intra-racial” variations.
“This genetic unity means, for example, that a white American who is noticeably different from a black American in phenotype may be closer in tissue composition to him than another black American.”
Fig. 1 Caucasian and Mongoloid eyes differ in the amount of fat layer around the eye, as well as the ligament, which disappears in most non-Asian infants by six months of age.
Anthropologists divide humanity into several main racial groups: Caucasoid (or “white”), Mongoloid (including the Chinese, Eskimos and American Indians), Negroid (black Africans) and Australoid (Australian Aborigines). Almost all evolutionists these days accept that different groups of people could not have had different origins- that is, they could not have evolved from different species of animals. Thus, proponents of evolution agree with creationists that all groups of peoples descended from a single original population of the Earth. Of course, evolutionists believe that groups such as the Australian Aborigines and the Chinese were separated from the rest by tens of thousands of years.
Most people believe that such significant external differences could develop only for a very long time. One of the reasons for this misconception is this: many believe that external differences are inherited from distant ancestors who acquired unique genetic properties that others did not have. This assumption is understandable, but essentially incorrect.
Consider, for example, the issue of skin color. It is easy to assume that if different groups of people have yellow, red, black, white or brown skin, then there are different skin pigments. But since different chemicals imply a different genetic code in the gene pool of each group, a serious question arises: how could such differences develop in a relatively short period of human history?
In fact, we all have only one skin “dye” - melanin. This is a dark brown pigment produced in each of us in special skin cells. If a person does not have melanin (as in albinos - people with a mutational defect that prevents melanin from being produced), then their skin color is very white or slightly pinkish. The cells of “white” Europeans produce little melanin, while those of black-skinned Africans produce a lot; and in between, as is easy to understand, all shades of yellow and brown.
Thus, the only significant factor determining skin color is the amount of melanin produced. In general, no matter what property of a group of people we consider, it will, in fact, be simply a variant comparable to others inherent in other peoples. For example, the Asian eye shape differs from the European one, in particular, in a small ligament that slightly pulls the eyelid down (see Figure 1). All newborns have this ligament, but after six months of age it remains, as a rule, only in Asians. Occasionally, the ligament is preserved in Europeans, giving their eyes an Asian almond-shaped shape, and vice versa, in some Asians it is lost, making their eyes Caucasian.
What is the role of melanin? It protects the skin from ultraviolet rays of the sun. A person with a small amount of melanin under the strong influence of solar activity is more prone to sunburn and skin cancer. Conversely, if you have too much melanin in your cells and you live in a country where there is not enough sun, your body will have a harder time producing the required amount of vitamin D (which is produced in the skin when exposed to sunlight). A lack of this vitamin can cause bone diseases (for example, rickets) and some types of cancer. Scientists have also discovered that ultraviolet rays destroy folates (folic acid salts), vitamins necessary for strengthening the spine. Melanin helps conserve folate, so people with dark skin are better suited to living in areas with high levels of ultraviolet rays (tropics or high altitudes).
A person is born with a genetically determined ability produce melanin in a certain amount, and this ability is activated in response to sunlight - a tan appears on the skin. But how could such different skin colors arise in a short time? If a representative of a black group of people marries a “white” person, the skin of their descendants ( mulattoes) will be "medium brown" in color. It has long been known that mulatto marriages produce children with a wide variety of skin colors - from completely black to completely white.
Awareness of this fact gives us the key to solving our problem as a whole. But first we need to become familiar with the basic laws of heredity.
Heredity
Each of us carries information about our own body - as detailed as a drawing of a building. This “drawing” determines not only that you are a person and not a head of cabbage, but also what color your eyes are, what the shape of your nose is, and so on. At the moment the sperm and egg merge into a zygote, it already contains all information about the future structure of a person (excluding such unpredictable factors as, say, exercise or diet).
Much of this information is encoded in DNA. DNA is the most effective information storage system, many times superior to any sophisticated computer technology. The information recorded here is copied (and recombined) through the process of reproduction from generation to generation. The term "gene" means a piece of this information containing instructions for the production of, for example, just one enzyme.
For example, there is a gene that carries instructions for the production of hemoglobin, the protein that carries oxygen in red blood cells. If this gene is damaged by mutation (a copying error during reproduction), the instructions will be incorrect - and, at best, we will get defective hemoglobin. (Such mistakes can lead to diseases such as sickle cell anemia.) Genes are always paired; Therefore, in the case of hemoglobin, we have two sets of codes (instructions) for its reproduction: one from the mother, the second from the father. The zygote (fertilized egg) receives half of the information from the father's sperm and the other half from the mother's egg.
This device is very useful. If a person inherits a damaged gene from one parent (and this dooms his cells to produce, say, abnormal hemoglobin), then the gene received from the other parent will be normal, and this will give the body the ability to produce normal protein. In the genome of each person there are hundreds of errors inherited from one of the parents, which do not appear, since each of them is “hidden” by the activity of another - a normal gene (see the booklet “Cain’s Wife - Who is She?”).
Color of the skin
We know that skin color is determined by more than one pair of genes. For simplicity, we assume that there are only two such (paired) genes, and they are located on the chromosomes in places A and B. One form of the gene, M, “gives the order” to produce a lot of melanin; another, m, – little melanin. According to location A, there can be paired combinations of MAMA, MAmA and mAmA, which give the skin cells a signal to produce a lot, not very much or little melanin.
Similarly, according to the location of B, there may be combinations of MVMV, MVmB and mBmB, also giving a signal to produce a lot, not very much or little melanin. Thus, people with very dark skin color may have a combination of genes such as MAMAMMV (see Figure 2). Since both the sperm and eggs of such people can contain only MAMB genes (after all, only one gene from positions A and B can enter a sperm or egg), their children will be born only with the same set of genes as their parents.
Consequently, all these children will have very dark skin color. In the same way, light-skinned people with the mAmAmBmB gene combination can only have children with the same gene combination. What combinations can appear in the offspring of mulattoes with dark skin with a combination of MAMAMBmB genes - who are, for example, children from the marriage of people with the MAMAMBMB and mAmAmBmB genes (see Figure 3)? Let's turn to a special scheme - the “Punnet lattice” (see Figure 4). On the left are the genetic combinations possible for a sperm, on the top - for an egg. We select one of the possible combinations for the sperm and consider, going along the line, what results from its combination with each of the possible combinations in the egg.
Each intersection of a row and a column records the combination of genes of the offspring when a given egg is fertilized by a given sperm. For example, when a sperm with the MAmB genes and an egg mAMB fuse, the child will have the MAmAMBmB genotype, like his parents. Overall, the diagram shows that such a marriage can produce children with five levels of melanin content (shades of skin color). If we take into account not two, but three pairs of genes responsible for melanin, we will see that the offspring can have seven levels of its content.
If people with the MAMAMVMV genotype - “completely” black (that is, without genes that reduce melanin levels and lighten the skin at all) marry among themselves and move to places where their children cannot meet lighter-skinned people, then all of them the descendants will also be black - a pure “black line” will be obtained. Likewise, if "white" people (mAmAmBmB) marry only people of the same skin color and live in isolation without dating darker-skinned people, they will end up with a pure "white line" - they will lose the genes needed to produce large amounts of melanin, which provides dark skin color.
Thus, two dark-skinned people can not only produce children of any skin color, but also give rise to different groups of people with a stable skin tone. But how did groups of people with the same dark shade appear? This again is easy to explain. If people with the MAMAmBmB and mАmAMBMB genotypes do not enter into mixed marriages, they will produce only dark-skinned offspring. (You can check this conclusion yourself by constructing a Punnett lattice.) If a representative of one of these lines enters into a mixed marriage, the process will go backwards. In a short period of time, the offspring of such a marriage will demonstrate a full range of skin tones, often within the same family.
If all the people on Earth now freely intermarry, and then for some reason split into groups living separately, then a whole host of new combinations could arise: almond-shaped eyes with black skin, blue eyes and black curly short hair, and so on. Of course, we must remember that genes behave in much more complex ways than in our simplified explanation. Sometimes certain genes are linked. But this does not change the essence. Even today, within one group of people one can see traits usually associated with another group.
Figure 3. Multicolored twins born to mulatto parents are an example of genetic variations in skin color.
For example, you can meet a European with a wide, flat nose, or a Chinese with very pale skin or a completely European eye shape. Most scientists today agree that for modern humanity the term “race” has virtually no biological meaning. And this is a serious argument against the theory of the isolated development of groups of peoples over long periods of time.
What really happened?
We can reconstruct the true history of groups of people using:
- information given to us by the Creator Himself in the Book of Genesis;
- the scientific information stated above;
- some considerations about environmental influences.
God created the first man, Adam, who became the progenitor of all people. 1656 years after the Creation, the Great Flood destroyed all of humanity, with the exception of Noah, his wife, three sons and their wives. The flood radically changed their habitat. The Lord confirmed His commandment to the survivors: to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth (Genesis 9:1). Several centuries later, people decided to disobey God and united to build a huge city and the Tower of Babel - a symbol of rebellion and paganism. From the eleventh chapter of the book of Genesis we know that up to this point people spoke a single language. God disgraced disobedience by confusing the languages of men so that men could not act together against God. The confusion of languages forced them to scatter throughout the Earth, which was the intention of the Creator. Thus, all "groups of people" arose simultaneously, with the confusion of languages during the construction of the Tower of Babel. Noah and his family were probably dark-skinned—they had the genes for both black and white).
This average color is the most universal: it is dark enough to protect against skin cancer, and at the same time light enough to provide the body with vitamin D. Since Adam and Eve had all the factors that determine skin color, they probably also had dark-skinned, brown-eyed, with black or brown hair. In fact, most of the modern world's population has dark skin.
After the Flood and before the construction of Babylon, there was a single language and a single cultural group on Earth. Therefore, there were no obstacles to marriages within this group. This factor stabilized the skin color of the population, cutting off extremes. Of course, from time to time people were born with very light or very dark skin, but they intermarried freely with the rest, and thus the “average color” remained unchanged. The same applies to other characteristics, not just skin color. In circumstances that allow for free interbreeding, obvious external differences do not appear.
For them to manifest themselves, it is necessary to divide the population into isolated groups, eliminating the possibility of crossing between them. This is true for both animal and human populations, as any biologist knows well.
Consequences of Babylon
This is exactly what happened after the Babylonian Pandemonium. When God made people speak different languages, insurmountable barriers arose between them. Now they did not dare to marry those whose language they did not understand. Moreover, groups of people united by a common language had difficulty communicating and, of course, did not trust those who spoke other languages. They were forced to move away from each other and settled in different places. This is how God’s commandment was fulfilled: “Fill the earth.”
It is doubtful that each of the newly formed small groups contained people of the same wide range of skin colors as the original one. Carriers of dark skin genes could predominate in one group, and lighter skin in another. The same applies to other external signs: the shape of the nose, the shape of the eyes, and so on. And since now all marriages took place within one language group, each such trait no longer tended to the average, as it had previously. As people moved away from Babylon, they had to deal with new and unusual climatic conditions.
As an example, consider a group heading to cold regions where the sun shines weaker and less often. Black people there lacked vitamin D, so they got sick more often and had fewer children. Consequently, over time, light-skinned people began to predominate in this group. If several different groups headed north, and members of one of them lacked the genes that provide light skin, that group was doomed to extinction. Natural selection operates on the basis already existing signs, but does not form new ones. Researchers have discovered that, who in our days have already been recognized as full-fledged representatives of the human race, suffered from rickets, which indicates a deficiency of vitamin D in the bones. In fact, it was the signs of rickets, plus evolutionary prejudices, that for a long time forced Neanderthals to be classified as “ape-men.” "
Apparently, this was a group of dark-skinned people who found themselves in a natural environment that was unfavorable for them - due to the set of genes which they initially had. Let us note again that so-called natural selection does not create new skin color, but only selects from already existing combinations. Conversely, a group of fair-skinned people stranded in a hot, sunny region would likely suffer from skin cancer. Thus, in hot climates, dark-skinned people had a better chance of survival. So we see that environmental influences can
(a) influence the genetic balance within one group and
(b) even cause the extinction of entire groups.
This is why we currently see a correspondence between the most common physical characteristics of the population and the environment (for example, northern peoples with pale skin, dark-skinned inhabitants of the equator, and so on).
But this doesn't always happen. The Inuit (Eskimos) have brown skin, although they live where there is little sun. It can be assumed that initially their genotype was something like MAMAmBmB, and therefore their offspring could not be lighter or darker. The Inuit eat mainly fish, which contains a lot of vitamin D. Conversely, the indigenous people of South America living near the equator do not have black skin at all. These examples once again confirm that natural selection does not create new information - if the genetic pool does not allow you to change skin color, natural selection is not able to do this. African pygmies are inhabitants of hot regions, but they are very rarely exposed to the open sun, because they live in shady jungles. And yet their skin is black.
The Pygmies provide a prime example of another factor influencing human racial history: discrimination. People who deviate from the “norm” (for example, a very light-skinned person among blacks) are traditionally treated with hostility. It is difficult for such a person to find a spouse. This state of affairs leads to the disappearance of light skin genes in black people in hot countries and dark skin genes in light skinned people in cold countries. This was the tendency of groups to "purify".
In some cases, consanguineous marriages in a small group can cause the re-emergence of almost extinct characteristics that were "suppressed" by ordinary marriages. There is a tribe in Africa all of whose members have severely deformed feet; this trait appeared in them as a result of consanguineous marriages. If people with hereditary short stature were discriminated against, they were forced to seek refuge in the wilderness and marry only among themselves. Thus, over time, the “race” of pygmies was formed. The fact that the Pygmy tribes, according to observations, do not have their own language, but speak the dialects of neighboring tribes, is strong evidence in favor of this hypothesis. Certain genetic characteristics could prompt groups of people to consciously (or semi-consciously) choose where to settle.
For example, people genetically predisposed to denser subcutaneous fat layers were likely to leave regions that were too hot.
Common memory
The biblical story of the emergence of man is supported not only by biological and genetic evidence. Since all of humanity descended from the family of Noah relatively recently, it would be strange if the tales and legends of different peoples did not contain references to the Great Flood, even if somewhat distorted during oral transmission from generation to generation.
And indeed: in the folklore of most civilizations there is a description of the Flood that destroyed the world. Often these legends contain remarkable “coincidences” with the true biblical story: eight people saved in a boat, a rainbow, a bird sent in search of dry land, and so on.
So what's the result?
The Babylonian dispersion fragmented a single group of people, within which free interbreeding took place, into smaller, isolated groups. This led to the appearance in the resulting groups of special combinations of genes responsible for different physical characteristics.
The dispersion itself must, in a short time, have brought about the appearance of certain differences between some of these groups, commonly called "races." An additional role was played by the selective influence of the environment, which contributed to the recombination of existing genes to achieve exactly those physical characteristics that were required in given natural conditions. But there was and could not be any evolution of genes “from simple to complex,” because the entire set of genes existed. The dominant properties of different groups of people arose as a result of recombinations of an already existing set of created genes, taking into account minor degenerative changes as a result of mutations (random changes that can be inherited).
Originally created genetic information was either combined or degraded, but never increased.
What did false teachings about the origin of races lead to?
All tribes and peoples are descendants of Noah!
The Bible makes it clear that any "newly discovered" tribe certainly goes back to Noah. Therefore, at the very beginning of the tribe's culture, there was a) knowledge of God and b) possession of technology advanced enough to build a vessel the size of an ocean liner. From the first chapter of the Epistle to the Romans we can conclude about the main reason for the loss of this knowledge (see Appendix 2) - the conscious renunciation of the ancestors of these people from serving the living God. Therefore, in helping the so-called “backward” peoples, the Gospel must come first, not secular education and technical assistance. In fact, the folklore and beliefs of most “primitive” tribes preserve memories of their ancestors turning away from the living Creator God. Dan Richardson of Child of Peace has shown in his book that a missionary approach that is not blinded by evolutionary prejudices and seeks to restore the lost connection has in many cases brought abundant and blessed fruit. Jesus Christ, who came to reconcile man who rejected his Creator with God, is the only Truth that can bring true freedom to people of any culture, of any color (John 8:32; 14:6).
Annex 1
Is it true that black skin is the result of Ham's curse?
Black (or rather dark brown) skin is just a special combination of hereditary factors. These factors (but not their combination!) were originally present in Adam and Eve. There are no instructions anywhere in the Bible that black skin color is the result of a curse that fell on Ham and his descendants. Moreover, the curse did not apply to Ham himself, but to his son Canaan (Genesis 9:18,25; 10:6). The main thing is that we know that the descendants of Canaan had dark skin (Genesis 10:15-19), not black.
False teachings about Ham and his descendants have been used to justify slavery and other unbiblical racist practices. African peoples are traditionally believed to be descended from the Hamites, as the Cushites (Cush - son of Ham: Genesis 10:6) are believed to have lived in what is now Ethiopia. The Book of Genesis suggests that the dispersion of people across the Earth occurred while maintaining family ties, and it is possible that the descendants of Ham were, on average, somewhat darker than, for example, the family of Japheth. However, everything could have been completely different. Rahab (Rahab), mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, belonged to the Canaanites, descendants of Canaan. Being from the clan of Ham, she married an Israeli - and God approved of this union. Therefore, it didn't matter what "race" she belonged to - all that mattered was that she believed in the true God.
The Moabite Ruth is also mentioned in the genealogy of Christ. She confessed her faith in God even before her marriage to Boaz (Ruth 1:16). God warns us against only one type of marriage: God's children with unbelievers.
Appendix 2
Stone Age people?
Archaeological finds indicate that once upon a time there were people on Earth who lived in caves and used simple stone tools. Such people live on Earth to this day. We know that the entire population of the earth came from Noah and his family. Judging by the book of Genesis, even before the Flood, people had developed technology that made it possible to make musical instruments, engage in agriculture, forge metal tools, build cities, and even build such huge ships as the Ark. After the Babylonian Pandemonium, groups of people - due to mutual hostility caused by the confusion of languages - quickly scattered across the earth in search of refuge.
In some cases, stone tools could be used temporarily until people equipped their homes and found deposits of the metals necessary to make the usual tools. There were other situations when a group of immigrants initially, even before Babylon, did not deal with metal.
Ask members of any modern family: if they had to start life from scratch, how many of them would be able to find an ore deposit, mine it and smelt the metal? It is clear that the Babylonian dispersion was followed by technological and cultural decline. Harsh environmental conditions may also have played a role. The technology and culture of the Australian Aborigines is quite consistent with their way of life and the needs of survival in arid areas.
Let us at least recall the aerodynamic principles, knowledge of which is necessary to create various types of boomerangs (some of them return, others do not). Sometimes we see clear but difficult to explain evidence of decline. For example, when Europeans arrived in Tasmania, the technology of the Aboriginal people there was the most primitive imaginable. They did not fish, make or wear clothes. However, archaeological excavations have shown that the cultural and technological level of previous generations of aborigines was incomparably higher.
Archaeologist Rhys Jones claims that in the distant past they were able to sew elaborate clothing from skins. This is in stark contrast to the situation in the early 1800s, when Aboriginal people simply threw skins over their shoulders. There is evidence that in the past they caught fish and ate it, but stopped doing this long before the arrival of Europeans. From all this we can conclude that technical progress is not natural: sometimes accumulated knowledge and skills disappear without a trace. Followers of animist cults live in constant fear of evil spirits. Many basic and healthy things - washing or eating well - are taboo among them. This once again confirms the truth that the loss of knowledge of God the Creator leads to degradation (Romans 1:18-32).
Here's the Good News
Creation Ministries International is committed to glorifying and honoring God the Creator and affirming the truth that the Bible tells the true story of the origins of the world and man. Part of this story is the bad news of Adam's violation of God's command. This brought death, suffering and separation from God into the world. These results are known to everyone. All of Adam's descendants are afflicted with sin from the moment of conception (Psalm 51:7) and share in Adam's disobedience (sin). They can no longer be in the presence of the Holy God and are doomed to separation from Him. The Bible says that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), and that all “shall suffer the punishment of everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power” (2 Thessalonians 1:9). But there is good news: God did not remain indifferent to our misfortune. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”(John 3:16).
Jesus Christ, the Creator, being sinless, took upon Himself the guilt for the sins of all mankind and their consequences - death and separation from God. He died on the cross, but on the third day he rose again, having conquered death. And now everyone who sincerely believes in Him, repents of their sins and relies not on themselves, but on Christ, can return to God and remain in eternal communion with their Creator. “He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”(John 3:18). Marvelous is our Savior and wonderful is salvation in Christ, our Creator!
Links and notes
- Based on variations in mitochondrial DNA, attempts have been made to prove that all modern humans are descended from a single foremother (who lived in a small population approximately 70 to 800 thousand years ago). Recent discoveries in the rate of mutation of mitochondrial DNA have sharply shortened this period to the time frame specified by the Bible. See Lowe, L., and Scherer, S., 1997. Mitochondrial Eye: the plot thickens. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 12 (11):422-423; Wieland, C.,1998. A shrinking date for Eve. CEN Technical Journal, 12(1): 1-3. creationontheweb.com/eve
When distinguishing races of the first (large), second (small) and third order (subraces), as well as anthropological types, they are guided by the principle of the taxonomic value of racial characteristics, depending on the time of formation of the racial trunk and the territory in which this characteristic delimits groups of people. The later a character is formed, the less suitable it is for distinguishing large races. Thus, large races are distinguished primarily by the degree of pigmentation and structural features of the face and head, i.e., by signs of appearance that have divided humanity since ancient times. Characteristics that can change on their own over time are not suitable for identifying races. (For example, zygomatic size, skull shape - top view).
The antiquity of the origin of a racial trait is determined by the breadth of its geographical distribution. If it appears in many human populations over wide areas of the continent, this indicates an ancient and local formation. Characteristics that change complexly are also an indicator of belonging to a large race.
Famous anthropologist N.N. Cheboksarov in 1951 gave a classification of racial types, which included three large races: Equatorial, or Australo-Negroid, Eurasian, or Caucasian, Asian-American. The major races include a total of 22 minor races, or second-order races. In 1979, Cheboksarov considered it possible to single out the Australoid race separately as a race of the first order.
Big races
Equatorial race (Fig. IX. 1). Dark skin color, wavy or curly hair, wide, slightly protruding nose, low or medium nose bridge, transverse nostrils, protruding upper lip, large mouth opening, protruding teeth.
Eurasian race (Fig. IX. 2). Light or dark skin color, straight or wavy hair, abundant growth of beard and mustache, narrow and sharply protruding nose, high nose bridge, longitudinal nostrils, straight upper lip, small mouth slit, thin lips. Light eyes and hair are common. The teeth are set straight. Strong canine fossa. Makes up 2/3 of the Earth's population.
Asian-American race (Fig. IX. 3). Dark skin tone, straight, often coarse hair, weak beard and mustache growth, average nose width, low or medium nose bridge, slightly (in Asia) and strongly (in America) protruding nose, straight upper lip, average thickness of lips, flattened face, inner fold of the eyelid.
Distribution of large races. The Eurasian race (before the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries) occupied Europe, North Africa, Western and Central Asia, the Middle East, India - a temperate and Mediterranean climate, often a maritime climate, mild winters.
Distribution of the Asian-American race - Asia, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, the Pacific Islands, Madagascar, North and South America - all climatic and geographical zones.
The territories occupied by the equatorial race are south of the Tropic of Cancer in Africa, Indonesia, New Guinea, Melanesia, Australia (savannas, tropical forests, deserts, oceanic islands).
Minor races
Eurasian race
Atlanto-Baltic minor race. The race's habitat is Scandinavia, the British Isles, the northern regions of Western and Eastern Europe.
Represented by Norwegians, Swedes, Scots, Icelanders, Danes, Russians, Belarusians, Baltic peoples, northern French, Germans, Finns. The race is light-skinned, the eyes are most often light, and the hair is often light. Beard growth is average to above average. Body hair is medium to sparse. The face and head are large (long-medium-sized); long face. The nose is narrow and straight, with a high bridge. In the history of the formation of the race, depigmentation occurred.
White Sea-Baltic minor race. Distribution: from the Baltic to the White Seas. The lightest pigmented race, especially the hair. The body length is shorter than that of the Atlanto-Baltic minor race, the face is wider and lower. Shorter nose, often with a concave dorsum. This variant is a direct descendant of the ancient population of Central and Northern Europe.
Central European small race. The range is all of Europe, especially the North European Plain from the Atlantic to the Volga. The races are represented by Germans, Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Austrians, Northern Italians, Ukrainians, Russians. Darker hair color than that of the White Sea-Baltic race. The head is moderately wide. Average face size. Beard growth is average to above average. The nose has a straight back and a high bridge, the length varies.
Balkan-Caucasian small race. The area is the Eurasian mountain belt. Body length is average and above average. The hair is dark, often wavy. The eyes are dark and mixed shades. Strong tertiary hairline. The head is brachycephalic (short). Face width is from average to above average. The nose is large, with a convex back. The base of the nose and the tip are drooping.
Indo-Mediterranean small race. Range - some southern regions of Europe, North Africa, Arabia, a number of southern regions of Eurasia to India. Represented by the Spaniards, Portuguese, southern Italians, Algerians, Libyans, Egyptians, Iranians, Iraqis, Afghans, peoples of Central Asia, Indians. Body length is average and below average. Skin color is dark. Hair is wavy. The eyes are dark. Tertiary hairline is moderate. The nose is straight and narrow, the bridge of the nose is high. The eyeball is wide open. The middle part of the face predominates. The fold of the upper eyelid is poorly developed.
Laponoid small race. Range: northern Fennoscandia. The basis of the anthropological type of Lapps (Sami). In ancient times, widespread in northern Europe. Mixture of Caucasoid and Mongoloid characteristics. The skin is light, the hair is dark, straight or wide-wavy, soft. Eyes are dark or mixed shades. The tertiary hairline is weak. The head is large. The face is low. The nose is short and wide. The interorbital distance is wide. Body length is small. The legs are relatively short, the arms are long, and the body is wide.
Asian American race
Pacific Mongoloids.
Far Eastern small race. It is part of the population of Korea, China, and Japan. Skin color is dark. The eyes are dark. Epicanthus is common. The tertiary hairline is very weak. Height is average or above average. The face is narrow, of medium width, high, flat. High brain skull. The nose is long, with a straight back, slightly to medium prominent.
South Asian minor race. The skin color is darker than that of the Far Eastern race. In comparison, the epicanthus is less characteristic: the face is less flattened and lower; lips are thicker; the nose is relatively wider. The skull is small and wide. The forehead is convex. Body length is small. Range: countries of South and Southeast Asia.
Northern Mongoloids
North Asian small race. The skin color is lighter than that of the Pacific Mongoloids. The hair is dark and dark brown, straight and coarse. The face is tall and wide, very flat. The brain skull is low. There is a very low nose bridge. Frequently epicanthus. The eye shape is small: Body length is average and below average. It is part of many indigenous peoples of Siberia (Evenks, Yakuts, Buryats).
Arctic small race. It is part of the Eskimos, Chukchi, American Indians, and Koryaks. The pigmentation is darker than that of the North Asian minor race; the face is more prognathic. Hair is straight and coarse. Epicanthus is found in 50% of the race. The nose is moderately prominent. Wide lower jaw. The bones and muscles are highly developed. The body and arms are short. The chest is rounded.
American race
The range is the vast territory of America. Large nose, sometimes convex. Facial flatness is moderate. Epicanthus is rare. The face and head are large. Massive body.
Australian-Negroid race
African Negroids
Negro minor race. Habitat: savannah and forest zone of Africa. Skin color is dark or very dark. Eye color is dark. The hair is very curly and spirally curled. The nose is wide in the wings. Low and flat nose bridge. The lips are thick. Severe alveolar prognathism. Tertiary hair coat is medium and weak. The palpebral fissure is wide open; the eyeball protrudes slightly forward. The interorbital distance is large. Body length is average or above average. The limbs are long, the body is short. The pelvis is small.
Bushman minor race. The habitat is the desert and semi-desert regions of South Africa. Yellowish-brown skin color. Hair and eyes are dark. The hair is spiral-curled and grows weakly in length. The nose is wide, with a low bridge. The tertiary cover is weak. The eye shape is smaller than that of the Negro race; epicanthus is found. The face is small, somewhat flattened. Small lower jaw. Body length is below average. Strong development of fat on the buttocks. Wrinkling of the skin. The Bushmen are a remnant of the ancient race of Africa from the Old-Middle Stone Age.
Negril small race. Natives of the African rainforest. The pigmentation and shape of the hair is like that of the Bushmen. The nose is wider, but protrudes more strongly. The eye shape is significant, the eyeball protrudes greatly. The tertiary hairline is highly developed. The body length is very short, the legs are short, the arms are long. The joints are movable.
Oceanic Negroids
Australian minor race. Indigenous people of Australia. The skin color is dark, but lighter than that of the Negro race. Hair color ranges from brown to black. Hair shape - from wide-wavy to narrow-wavy and curly. The eyes are dark. Tertiary hair is well developed on the face and weakly on the body. The nose is very wide, low bridge. The eye shape is large; the position of the eyeball is deep. Lips of medium thickness. The jaws protrude forward. Body length is average and above average. The body is short, the limbs are long. The chest is powerful, the muscles are well developed, the neck is short. The skull, unlike the skeleton, is very massive.
Melanesian minor race. Distribution area: New Guinea and the islands of Melanesia. Unlike Australians, curly-haired people have shorter growth, and the tertiary hairline is less developed. Papuans often have a large nose with a convex back and a drooping tip (similar to the Western Asian Caucasians).
Veddoid small race. The race's habitat is the islands of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and South India. It is a smaller version of the Australians. Moderately dark skin, wavy hair, medium lips, moderate jaw protrusion. The nose is narrower in the wings, the bridge of the nose is not too low. The tertiary hairline is weak. Body length is average and below average. Often this race is combined with the Australian into one. In ancient times, both options were widespread.
Contact races
At the junction of the areas of large races, contact races are distinguished, which have a special classification. In the territory where Caucasians and Mongoloids are in contact, the Ural and South Siberian small races are distinguished; the mixing of Caucasians and Negroids gave rise to the Ethiopian small race; Caucasoids and Veddoids - a small Dravidian race.
Ural small race. The range of the race is the Urals, Trans-Urals, part of Western Siberia. The skin is light. The hair is dark and dark brown, straight and wide-wavy, often soft. Eye color - mixed and dark shades, a little light. The nose is straight or with a concave back, the tip is raised, the bridge of medium height. The face is small and relatively wide, low and moderately flattened. Lips of medium thickness. The tertiary hairline is weakened. The Ural race is similar to the Laponoid race, but people are larger and have Mongoloid admixture. The Ural race is represented by the Mansi, Khanty, Selkups, some Volga peoples, and some peoples of the Altai-Sayan Highlands.
South Siberian small race. The race's habitat is the steppes of Kazakhstan, the mountainous regions of the Tien Shan, Altai-Sayan Mountains. Skin color is dark and light. Hair and eye color, like the Ural race. The nose has a straight or convex back, large, the bridge of medium height. The face is quite high and wide. Hair is often straight and coarse. Average height. The variant is more massive than the Ural one. This race includes the Kazakhs and Kyrgyz.
Ethiopian minor race. Distributed in East Africa. Skin color - with brown tints. Hair and eye color is dark. The hair is curly and finely wavy. The tertiary cover is weakened. The nose is straight, with a fairly high bridge, and not wide. The face is narrow, lips are of medium thickness. Body length is average and above average; the body is narrow-built. The ancient version of humanity (from the Middle and New Stone Ages).
Dravidian (South Indian) small race. Distribution area: Southern India at the junction of southern Caucasoids and Veddoids. Brown skin. The hair is straight and wavy, the proportions of the face and its details tend to average values.
Ainu (Kuril) small race. The area is the island of Hokkaido. Skin color is dark. The hair is dark, coarse, wavy. The eyes are light brown. Epicanthus is rare or absent. The tertiary hairline is very well developed. The face is low, wide, slightly flattened. The nose, mouth and ears are large, the lips are full. The arms are long, the legs are relatively short. The physique is massive. The Ainu are sometimes considered a special large race; they are also classified as Caucasoids or Australoids.
Polynesian minor race. Range: Pacific Islands. New Zealand. The skin is dark, sometimes light or yellowish. Hair is dark, wavy or straight. Tertiary hair on the body is weak, on the face it is medium. The nose is not protruding, relatively wide. Lips are full. Large body size. The question remains unclear which great races were included as components of mixing in this variant.
The size of the population that forms the races. The total number of populations belonging to equatorial races (without transitional and mixed forms) is about 260.1 million people (calculations were carried out by S.I. Brook with the participation of N.N. Cheboksarov in 1975-1976). The Oceanian (Australoid) branch accounts for 9.5 million people. Among the Negroids, the most numerous are blacks (250.2 million people, 215 million people live in Africa, 35 million people live in America). There are about 200 thousand African Pygmies (Negrills), and 250 thousand Bushmen. The most numerous in South and Southeast Asia are the Veddoids - 5 million people, the Melanesians and Papuans - 4.26 million people. There are about 50 thousand Australians, about 20 thousand Ainu people.
The total number of populations transitional between the Equatorial and Caucasoid races is about 356.6 million people (South Indian group - 220 million people, Ethiopian group - 45 million people).
The total number of Caucasian populations, not mixed or very little mixed with other large races, reaches 1803.5 million people. Light Caucasians make up 140 million people, dark Caucasians make up 1047.5 million people, the rest are transitional types. In the former USSR, Caucasians numbered 220 million people, in foreign Europe - 478 million, in Africa - 107 million, in America - 303 million, in Australia and Oceania - 16.5 million people. Light Caucasians predominate in northern Europe and North America, dark Caucasians predominate in the Caucasus, the Middle East, South Asia, southern Europe, Africa, and Latin America. Mixed and transitional forms between Caucasian and Asian Mongoloids number 44.8 million people. Thus, the South Siberian race numbers 8.5 million people, the Ural race - 13.1 million people.
The third main group of races - Mongoloid - is estimated at 712.3 million people. The Northern Mongoloids (continental) number 8 million people, the number of Pacific (Eastern) Mongoloids reaches 671.1 million people (the majority are in China and Korea). The Arctic (Eskimo) group of types numbers 150 thousand people (transitional between the continental and Pacific Mongoloids). The American Mongoloids (sometimes classified as a separate large race) include approximately 33 million people.
The number of mixed and transitional forms between Mongoloids and equatorial races can be judged by the South Asian contact race connecting the Eastern Mongoloids with the Australoids, which numbers 550.4 million people.
The Polynesian contact group numbers about 1 million people. It occupies a middle position between all the great races of humanity.
The size of all Mongoloid-equatorial populations is estimated at 674.1 million people.
British archaeologist, best known as a researcher of the Neolithic settlements of Çatalhöyük and Hacilar in Turkey.