<P> Recent archaeological and genetic study published in 2014 found that seven `` Scandinavian hunter - gatherers '' found in the 7,700 - year - old Motala archaeological site in southern Sweden had both light skin gene variants , SLC24A5 and SLC45A2 , and that they had a third gene , HERC2 / OCA2 , which causes blue eyes and also contributes to lighter skin and blond hair . Genetic research published in 2014 and 2015 also indicates that Yamnaya Proto - Indo - Europeans who migrated to Europe in the Bronze Age were overwhelmingly dark - eyed ( brown ) , dark - haired and had a skin colour that was moderately light , though somewhat darker than that of the average modern European . Light pigmentation traits had already existed in pre-Indo - European Europeans ( both farmers and hunter - gatherers ) , and long - standing philological attempts to correlate them with the arrival of Indo - Europeans from the steppes were misguided . </P>
<P> Recent archaeological and genetic study published in 2014 found that seven `` Scandinavian hunter - gatherers '' found in the 7,700 - year - old Motala archaeological site in southern Sweden had both light skin gene variants , SLC24A5 and SLC45A2 , and that they had a third gene , HERC2 / OCA2 , which causes blue eyes and also contributes to lighter skin and blond hair . Genetic research published in 2014 and 2015 also indicates that Yamnaya Proto - Indo - Europeans who migrated to Europe in the Bronze Age were overwhelmingly dark - eyed ( brown ) , dark - haired and had a skin colour that was moderately light , though somewhat darker than that of the average modern European . Light pigmentation traits had already existed in pre-Indo - European Europeans ( both farmers and hunter - gatherers ) , and long - standing philological attempts to correlate them with the arrival of Indo - Europeans from the steppes were misguided . </P>
where did blonde hair blue eyes come from
where did blonde hair blue eyes come from
third gene , HERC2 / OCA2
third gene , HERC2 / OCA2