What Did Our Ancestors Look Like? Hair and Eye Color Can Be Determined for Ancient Human Remains

Jan. 11, 2013 — A new method of establishing hair and eye colour from modern forensic samples can also be used to identify details from ancient human remains, finds a new study published in BioMed Central's open access journal Investigative Genetics. The HIrisPlex DNA analysis system was able to reconstruct hair and eye colour from teeth up to 800 years old, including the Polish General Wladyslaw Sikorski (1881 to 1943) confirming his blue eyes and blond hair.

Looking to an Explorer's Bones for Answers

by Xavier Bosch on 17 June 2003, 12:00 AM
Nobody knows for sure where Christopher Columbus came from and where he was buried. But an international team of forensic experts hopes that science can end a half-millennium of speculation.