I guess the problem isn't the existence of blondes among the ancient Greeks or even their arrival with the IE language (an idea that I find doubtful considering that there were strongly depigmented individuals in Neolithic Hungary already), but the juxtaposition of dark Pelasgians and blond Dorians. The Homeric heroes would have been either Pelasgians themselves or their immediate neighbours, but definitely pre-Dorian.
Regarding the relationship of looks, genes and language in the ancient Mediterranean there is another pertinent example: the Tyrrhenian Etruscans who were related to the Lemnian 'Pelasgians' look like Iberians (i. e. the autosomally northernmost Mediterraneans) with a Finnish pull in a PCA. In light of their genetic background and their Urnfield material culture it is perhaps noteworthy that Etruscan Frescoes often feature very blond individuals.
The takeaway is that the association of depigmentation, Indo-European languages and northern invasions in the Mediterranean doesn't really hold, even with the paucity of samples from southern Europe.
Today, pigmentation is not my very center of interest if it was before.
But, Markoz, some people have eyes :
Overdepigmentation is
unevenly distributed in Europe and in modern times tied for the most to historical moves and osmosis, it’s not a general statement but a region by region,
almost a valley by valley precise story, and later modifications are the result of modern life and levelling osmosis in metropoles and industrial regions ; in late history it is not linked to climate, spite surely the selection of the first diverse depigmenting mutation is linked for a big part to climate (but not only, i think). So the 20th Cy overdepigmentation distributions cannot be simplisticly linked to North-South or East-West gradiants. And, no, the most of the blonds people in Southern Europe are not the result of everpresent depigmented individuals,
not as a whole, even if someones can be this. Sure Sardinians have received more recent Near-Eastern DNA but as a whole they seem a rather dominantly Neolithical farmers descent and they are very rarely depigmented in the traditional parts of the island. Same for other southern pops were northerners or northeasterners never became dominant.
Some overdepigmentation mutations surely occurred among ‘danubian-mediter’ pop of Anatolian pop (or more and more in some thoughts : a Southeastern-Anatolian pop) or North the Caucasus but the compilation of diverses mutations seems having prospered around South-East Baltic lands, IMO ; here a climatic vector of selection could be imagined. I long to auDNA big samples of ancient pops between Baltic and Ural, to know the exact beginning date of the super-depigmentation increase.
Blond Dorians ? Surely not ; less rare blonds among them ? More credible.
To people who doubt, look at rather serious pigmentations maps compared to mountainous blocks and rivers nets, look at Spain, Italy (N-S, yes, but pockets with specific history), Normandy, Brittany (in their subregions), France as a whole, ex-Yugoslavia : mountains opposed to great rivers, the Black Sea banks in Romania and Bulgaria, Flanders/Wallonia, Wales/East Anglia and so on everywhere ; historic invasions, colonizations, before recent general tendancy to osmosis in metropolis and industrial regions, and political deportations in East Europe. I can give more than an example.
I speak here of LBA and later pops moves, I've no theory to date concerning PIE people because I have not enough clues to date, no cristal bowl.
To answer other forumers. Please, let's re-read serious papers and ALSO let's put our brains and good sense at work; pigmentation of skin between males and females of SAME groups vary for the most for the visage more than for the body (among Europoids); among some females, it's the fatness of skin which makes it a bit lighter - I'm not sure there is a direct link to testosterone, mybe rather indirect,(I 've to re-read my too here!)-
For me, overdepigmentation increase began before Yamna time (PIE or not) and not so close to Caucasus, I don't believe it can be strictly linked to them; all right, it is not proved today.
Good discussion lads (and ladies!)