See the Faces of Two Sisters Who Toiled Away in a Neolithic Mine 6,000 Years Ago

RDKirk · Aug 8, 2025

See the Faces of Two Sisters Who Toiled Away in a Neolithic Mine 6,000 Years Ago

Archaeologists created 3D reconstructions of the women's faces based on an analysis of their teeth and bones. Found in the Czech Republic, the siblings "did not have an easy life," the new research suggests

www.smithsonianmag.com

This is the part I'm wondering about:

The younger sister was around 30 to 35 when she died, and she likely had dark hair and hazel or green eyes.
The older sister was around 35 to 40, and she probably had blonde hair and blue eyes.

durangodawood · Aug 8, 2025

RDKirk said:
See the Faces of Two Sisters Who Toiled Away in a Neolithic Mine 6,000 Years Ago

Archaeologists created 3D reconstructions of the women's faces based on an analysis of their teeth and bones. Found in the Czech Republic, the siblings "did not have an easy life," the new research suggests

www.smithsonianmag.com

This is the part I'm wondering about:

What aspect of this is puzzling to you? The hair colors?

Chesterton · Aug 8, 2025

The article says they looked at their DNA.

RDKirk · Aug 8, 2025

Chesterton said:
The article says they looked at their DNA.

I figure that's how they determined they were sisters. But the difference in hair and eye color?

Unless they were half sisters or cousins. But even then, I'm doubting the population was that diverse.

That deserved further explanation.

Chesterton · Aug 8, 2025

RDKirk said:
But even then, I'm doubting the population was that diverse.

Maybe, but I've heard they did have equity and inclusion. Everybody was forced to haul rocks out of mines.

FireDragon76 · Aug 8, 2025

According to ChatGPT, the eye color and skin color were determined using DNA analysis, and represent approximations. The sister with darker hair likely had slightly darker skin as well, representing genetic diversity in ancient Europe. The two sisters would be more closely related to the Sami or Basque people, than most modern Europeans- but only distantly so.

Cheddar Man had dark skin but blue eyes, but he was mesolithic, not neolithic, and lived about 10,000 years ago. Quite a bit older.

People of European ancestry can have alot of physical variation, even among family. My brother has skin that is a full shade lighter than mine, red hair, and blue eyes, whereas I have dark brown hair, brown eyes, and almost a Mediterranean complexion.

Speculations in the article about the nature of the sisters work and deaths are also logical, if speculative. Alot of ancient cultures practiced slavery and forced labor, for all sorts of reasons. They also had ritual human sacrifices on occasion (though some writers, such as Greeks or Romans, had reasons to embellish or misunderstand such accounts), so it's not out of question as an explanation. Mines in particular were places of magical enchantment, liminal spaces that connected to unseen worlds, often full of creatures that guarded them and didn't take kindly to intruders (hence European stories of kobolds, goblins, and other spirits that guarded liminal spaces such as caves and mines).

RDKirk · Aug 8, 2025

FireDragon76 said:
According to ChatGPT, the eye color and skin color were determined using DNA analysis, and represent approximations. The sister with darker hair likely had slightly darker skin as well, representing genetic diversity in ancient Europe. The two sisters would be more closely related to the Sami or Basque people, than most modern Europeans- but only distantly so.

Cheddar Man had dark skin but blue eyes, but he was mesolithic, not neolithic, and lived about 10,000 years ago. Quite a bit older.

People of European ancestry can have alot of physical variation, even among family. My brother has skin that is a full shade lighter than mine, red hair, and blue eyes, whereas I have dark brown hair, brown eyes, and almost a Mediterranean complexion.

Speculations in the article about the nature of the sisters work and deaths are also logical, if speculative. Alot of ancient cultures practiced slavery and forced labor, for all sorts of reasons. They also had ritual human sacrifices on occasion (though some writers, such as Greeks or Romans, had reasons to embellish or misunderstand such accounts), so it's not out of question as an explanation. Mines in particular were places of magical enchantment, liminal spaces that connected to unseen worlds, often full of creatures that guarded them and didn't take kindly to intruders (hence European stories of kobolds, goblins, and other spirits that guarded liminal spaces such as caves and mines).

ChatGPT.

Sure.

I've been talking about my experiences with ChatGPT.

ozso · Aug 8, 2025

RDKirk said:
I figure that's how they determined they were sisters. But the difference in hair and eye color?

Unless they were half sisters or cousins. But even then, I'm doubting the population was that diverse.

That deserved further explanation.

Pure Australian Aboriginal people are mixed. Dark hair and brown eyes. Dark hair and blue eyes. Blond hair and blue eyes. Blond hair and brown eyes. And when it comes to those who have blond hair, it can be very blond. And for those who have blue eyes, they can be very sky blue. So siblings among them with contrasting hair and eye color wouldn't be uncommon.

That Guy 11200 · Aug 8, 2025

RDKirk said:
I figure that's how they determined they were sisters. But the difference in hair and eye color?

Unless they were half sisters or cousins. But even then, I'm doubting the population was that diverse.

That deserved further explanation.

Why do you doubt they had diverse genetics?

As for siblings having differences. I'm blond with grey/blue eyes, my (full) siblings have brown hair and brown eyes.

RDKirk · Aug 8, 2025

That Guy 11200 said:
Why do you doubt they had diverse genetics?

The date and the place.

ozso · Aug 9, 2025

That Guy 11200 said:
Why do you doubt they had diverse genetics?

As for siblings having differences. I'm blond with grey/blue eyes, my (full) siblings have brown hair and brown eyes.

Isn't that a matter of varying genetics within the same gene pool rather than diverse genetics?

Isn't diverse genetics is a crossover between two separate ethnic groups? Whereas varying genetics exist within the same ethnic group? Likewise in the example of you and your siblings, I started out as blond and then ended up so dark haired it's been described as black. And likewise eye color can change as well from light colored to dark colored. I believe it has to do with changes in levels of melanin which affects pigmentation. Your siblings might have a higher level of melanin than you do. And perhaps if your level of melanin had changed as you got older, you would have matched them. Mind that I'm just spitballing. My level of knowledge in such matters is limited.

ozso · Aug 9, 2025

RDKirk said:
See the Faces of Two Sisters Who Toiled Away in a Neolithic Mine 6,000 Years Ago

Archaeologists created 3D reconstructions of the women's faces based on an analysis of their teeth and bones. Found in the Czech Republic, the siblings "did not have an easy life," the new research suggests

www.smithsonianmag.com

This is the part I'm wondering about:

Based on what I've looked into the sisters probably simply had different concentrations of melanin in their hair and eyes.

That Guy 11200 · Aug 9, 2025

ozso said:
Isn't that a matter of varying genetics within the same gene pool rather than diverse genetics?

Isn't diverse genetics is a crossover between two separate ethnic groups? Whereas varying genetics exist within the same ethnic group? Likewise in the example of you and your siblings, I started out as blond and then ended up so dark haired it's been described as black. And likewise eye color can change as well from light colored to dark colored. I believe it has to do with changes in levels of melanin which affects pigmentation. Your siblings might have a higher level of melanin than you do. And perhaps if your level of melanin had changed as you got older, you would have matched them. Mind that I'm just spitballing. My level of knowledge in such matters is limited.

Genetic diversity is exactly that - the diversity of genes within the population. It doesn't matter where the gene variants came from.

That Guy 11200 · Aug 9, 2025

RDKirk said:
The date and the place.

Modern humans left Africa around 70,000 years ago. These sisters were around 6,000 years ago. Within that timespan modern humans had encountered at least two other archaic human populations (Neandertals and Denisovans) and interbred with them. Even without interbreeding between different humans, tens of thousands of years is plenty of time for new gene variants to appear.

Ancient humans (pre-farming) were nomadic and would have encountered other groups quite often. After farming began, genetic and archaeological evidence shows that the farmers spread around Europe. There was always a lot of admixture between populations.

FireDragon76 · Aug 9, 2025

It's important to remember that genetic admixture is less like mixing paint, and more like playing Scrabble or Bananagrams.

JustaPewFiller · Aug 9, 2025

RDKirk said:
I figure that's how they determined they were sisters. But the difference in hair and eye color?

Unless they were half sisters or cousins. But even then, I'm doubting the population was that diverse.

That deserved further explanation.

From the reconstructions, the jaw / chin structure is quite different between the two as well.

The article says they were likely sisters. But I didn't see where it assumed they had the same father. Different fathers would be my guess.

Trading happened even over long distances back then. There were also still migrations happening. Those traveling salesmen eh?

Trade was thriving in Neolithic Italy, isotope study shows

Ancient Italians were importing copper from Tuscany, a new study shows.

www.zmescience.com

Ancient DNA reveals the earliest evidence of the last massive human migration to Western Europe

Ancient DNA from Ukraine uncovers the earliest evidence of the arrival of the ‘steppe ancestry’ – the last piece of the modern Western European genetic puzzle.

theconversation.com

Mark Quayle · Sunday at 10:44 PM

FireDragon76 said:
According to ChatGPT, the eye color and skin color were determined using DNA analysis, and represent approximations. The sister with darker hair likely had slightly darker skin as well, representing genetic diversity in ancient Europe. The two sisters would be more closely related to the Sami or Basque people, than most modern Europeans- but only distantly so.

Cheddar Man had dark skin but blue eyes, but he was mesolithic, not neolithic, and lived about 10,000 years ago. Quite a bit older.

People of European ancestry can have alot of physical variation, even among family. My brother has skin that is a full shade lighter than mine, red hair, and blue eyes, whereas I have dark brown hair, brown eyes, and almost a Mediterranean complexion.

Speculations in the article about the nature of the sisters work and deaths are also logical, if speculative. Alot of ancient cultures practiced slavery and forced labor, for all sorts of reasons. They also had ritual human sacrifices on occasion (though some writers, such as Greeks or Romans, had reasons to embellish or misunderstand such accounts), so it's not out of question as an explanation. Mines in particular were places of magical enchantment, liminal spaces that connected to unseen worlds, often full of creatures that guarded them and didn't take kindly to intruders (hence European stories of kobolds, goblins, and other spirits that guarded liminal spaces such as caves and mines).

I get the feeling that modern writers, to include archaeologists, have reasons to speculate and embellish on their discoveries. Call me a skeptic.

By the way, the girl on the left looks like my cousin, sans makeup, with almost as much of a sense of humor. When National Geographic published a picture of "Lucy", I thought, "What's the big deal? She looks like a woman in town everyone knows."

FireDragon76 · Sunday at 11:02 PM

Mark Quayle said:
I get the feeling that modern writers, to include archaeologists, have reasons to speculate and embellish on their discoveries. Call me a skeptic.

It's not embellishment, that's part of what archeologists do. In the US, archeology is a branch of anthropology, and in Europe archeology is a branch of history and antiquities. They don't want to just collect artifacts, but to understand the likely contexts around the artifacts. Every artifact potentially isn't just a thing in isolation, but evidence of a pattern or way of life surrounding it.

Gene2memE · Sunday at 11:51 PM

RDKirk said:
I figure that's how they determined they were sisters. But the difference in hair and eye color?

Unless they were half sisters or cousins. But even then, I'm doubting the population was that diverse.

That deserved further explanation.

From the study:

"Based on aDNA, it is clear that she had brown or green eyes, therefore it is possible to infer a darker hair colour. The female buried deeper (H2a/2002) was only slightly older at the time of death (35–40 years old) and her body height was estimated at about 146.1 cm. Based on the study of phenotypic features, she was a lighter type, probably blue-eyed and probably fair-haired.

...

The H1 female was heterozygous, so she carries both alleles and a green or hazel iris color can be expected. The CC allele was detected in the skeleton H2, she had light (blue eyes) with high probability [greater than 90%]"

durangodawood · Monday at 8:44 AM

I think small populations migrated from time to time back then. 500, 1000 miles over some time wouldnt be extraordinary. Social geography wasnt as rigid as people sometimes imagine. Thats my understanding anyway.

See the Faces of Two Sisters Who Toiled Away in a Neolithic Mine 6,000 Years Ago

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