Ancient DNA suggests some Neanderthals were pale-skinned and red-haired, carrying a variant of the pigmentation gene MC1R — but a different variant from the one that produces red hair in living people. Their colouring was varied, and evolved separately from ours.
For over a century, Neanderthals were reconstructed however the artist imagined them — usually dark and hairy. Ancient DNA has replaced guesswork with genetics, and the answer is more surprising: at least some Neanderthals were fair-skinned redheads.
Reading colour from ancient genes
Skin, hair and eye colour are strongly influenced by known genes. By recovering those genes from Neanderthal bones, researchers can predict pigmentation much as a forensic lab does for a crime scene — with real, if imperfect, confidence.
The redhead gene — but a different one
In 2007, a study of Neanderthal DNA from Spain and Italy found a variant of MC1R, the main gene behind red hair and pale skin. Here is the twist: it was not the same MC1R variant that makes people redheaded today. Neanderthals arrived at pale skin and red hair independently — convergent evolution, not shared inheritance — probably as an adaptation to weak northern sunlight.
Why pale skin in the north?
Away from the tropics, sunlight is scarce, and pale skin makes vitamin D more efficiently. Both Neanderthals and, later, modern Europeans evolved lighter skin as they lived at high latitudes — two human lineages solving the same problem in parallel. Not all Neanderthals were pale, though; the genes suggest a range of complexions.
| Trait | Neanderthals | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Skin | From pale to darker | Some carried a distinct pale-skin variant |
| Hair | Some red, some brown | Red-hair MC1R variant unlike the modern one |
| Eyes | Uncertain | Less clear from the genes recovered so far |
Why it matters
The pigmentation story is a neat example of how ancient DNA turns extinct people from art into evidence — and of convergent evolution, where similar environments sculpt similar traits in separate lineages. Some genes affecting hair and skin in living Europeans were even inherited from Neanderthals.
See our closest cousins on the family tree, and trace the DNA they left in us.
Explore the family tree →Frequently asked questions
Did Neanderthals have red hair?
Ancient DNA shows at least some Neanderthals carried a variant of the MC1R gene associated with red hair and pale skin, so some were likely redheads — though not all, and their colouring varied.
Was it the same red-hair gene as modern humans?
No. Neanderthals carried a different MC1R variant from the one that causes red hair in living people, meaning the two lineages evolved red hair and pale skin independently.
Were Neanderthals pale or dark-skinned?
Both, according to the genes. Some carried a pale-skin variant suited to weak northern sunlight, but the evidence points to a range of complexions rather than a single skin colour.
- Lalueza-Fox, C. et al. (2007). 'A melanocortin 1 receptor allele suggests varying pigmentation among Neanderthals.' Science 318. science.org
- Dannemann, M. & Kelso, J. (2017). 'The contribution of Neanderthals to phenotypic variation in modern humans.' American Journal of Human Genetics 101. cell.com
- Smithsonian Human Origins — Ancient DNA and Neanderthals. humanorigins.si.edu