Where Did Red Hair Originate. The only neanderthal specimen tested so far from croatia did not carry the same mc1r mutation responsible for red hair in modern humans the mutation in question in known as arg307gly. Scotlandsdna reckon that both cysteine red and tryptophan red originated in west asia around 70 000 years ago which would put the founders amongst the earliest generations of modern humans to live outside of africa.
For some time there has been quite a debate among scholars regarding the origins of the red hair gene. The only neanderthal specimen tested so far from croatia did not carry the same mc1r mutation responsible for red hair in modern humans the mutation in question in known as arg307gly. The only neanderthal specimen tested so far from croatia did not carry the same mc1r mutation responsible for red hair in modern humans.
It has been suggested that red hair could have originated in paleolithic europe especially since neanderthal also had red hair.
Red hair or ginger hair occurs naturally in one to two percent of the human population appearing with greater frequency two to six percent among people of northern or northwestern european ancestry and lesser frequency in other populations. It is most common in individuals homozygous for a recessive allele on chromosome 16 that produces an altered version of the mc1r protein. My daughter and youngest son s father had jet black hair my daughter is more a dirty blonde and my youngest has jet black hair except for his beard it grows in ginger just like your dad. It has been suggested that red hair could have originated in paleolithic europe especially since neanderthal also had red hair.