My White Racial Phenotype

Images of me throughout childhood and as a teenager.

I know my genetic ancestry is primary Northwestern European Keltic-Germanic (Keltic-Anglo-Saxon-Fennoscandian with some Saami), so I decided to see if my phenotype matches my known genotype. I know I have a genetic contribution of up to 12% from Central Europe (which includes Slavic and Keltic populations).

Me as a young woman.

The photos shown in this post are of me at different ages throughout my childhood, as a teenager and as a young woman (when my facial features were more sharply defined than they are now at age 53). My eyes look darker in the photos than they actually are - they are a dark green-cast brown in real life. I'm short, with fine bone structure (as opposed to a robust bone structure). I was really pale when I was a child, so much so that school officials thought I was anemic. I do tan without problem though, and I'm not as pale now as I was when I was younger. My skin tone is still pale, but it's a bit more rosy now than it used to be. The white-blonde hair of my childhood has darkened considerably with age, it's now very dark ash blonde. My lips are rather thin. So, I know I'm a phenotypic mixture as well as a genotypic admixture.

After looking at photos of other subrace phenotypes of Caucasoid Europeans, I've decided my European racial phenotype (also supported my my genotype) looks like a hybrid Anglo-Saxon-Keltic-Nordid type touched with some Saami (based on comparing my facial features with types shown on the linked pages and compared with descriptions of the stature/height of the Saami) -

Anglo-Saxon Nordid: http://www.theapricity.com/snpa/rg-anglo.htm - "Iron Age Hallstatt Nordid altered by mixture with Cro-Magnid and probably additional Corded elements. The influence of a Borreby or similar brachycephalic strain may be of secondary importance."

Keltic Nordid: http://www.theapricity.com/snpa/rg-keltic.htm - "The Keltic Nordid type probably shares its earliest formative history with the Hallstatt variety, or a similar proto-strain. The migratory existence associated with the ancestry of the Keltic type clearly involved the absorption of several non-Nordid strains, most importantly central European Dinarid (probably by association with the Bell-Beaker culture of the Neolithic and Bronze Ages). In this respect, one might say it is intermediate between the Hallstatt and Norid types. Additionally, the Keltic Nordid has mixed with Atlanto-Mediterranid (cf. North-Atlantid), the latter of which is probably present at a low level in the Keltic Nordid population as a whole."

None of the other type faces on the website look much like mine. I guess what threw me a bit when first trying to pin down my own phenotype is the fact that I am short, my mom is short and my daughter is short (while the types above tend to be tall types). Nevertheless, my dad is tall and my sons are tall, so maybe the female shortness in my maternal-line female family comes from my Saami genes (especially since my paternal grandmother and paternal aunts are tall, and my Saami connection is through my ancestral U5b1b1-T16192C! genetic motherline).

Saami (stature) - This page ( http://www.theapricity.com/snpa/troeplate01.htm ) shows photos of Saami people, and while my face doesn't at all look Saami, the Saami are of short stature. So, I am pretty convinced that my shortness and the shortness of my mother and daughter comes from our X-chromosome Saami genes.

So, it looks as if my phenotype matches my known genotype - AngloSaxon-Keltic-Nordic-Saami (i.e. Germanic-Keltic-Saami) - My facial features are therefore, basically admixed Nordid, and even though my overall bone structure is rather fine (as opposed to robust), my height is short.

All of this taken together also identifies some the more ancient genetic cultures which contributed to making me - Hallstatt Nordid, Norid, Corded Ware, Bell Beaker, Cro-Magnid, Saami, European Dinarid, North Atlantid and possibly Borreby.

More information:
a good summary of the Europid types
Nordid / Cro-Magnoid Types