Anthropological and Genetic Studies of the Faroese

Abstract

An anthropological and genetic survey of the Faroe Islanders was conducted with the aims of defining their characteristics
and comparing them with other populations of the North Atlantic region. Variation between subsamples of the population
assigned to different regional groups of the islands was also considered. This report presents the preliminary results of a
number of investigations. An anthropometric survey involving 17 different measurements on each of 155 young adult males
indicates that the Faroese are a tall, mesocephalic population, resembling Icelanders in a number of features. The results provide no evidence of notable differences of physique between subsamples from the different geographical regions of the islands. In contrast the dermatoglyphic study of 297 sets of finger prints indicates considerable regional differences in both
males and females in pattern type frequencies and mean total ridge count. Pattern type frequencies are characterized by
high arch and loop and low whorl frequencies, similar to but more extreme than those of Icelanders. Mean total ridge count
is low, particularly so in the females. Skin colour as measured by an EEL reflectance spectrophotometer is extremely pale.
Hair colour, as in the Icelanders, includes a higher proportion of darker shades than other Scandinavian populations. Colour
vision deficiency was detected in 11 of 148 males and 1 of 126 females. Resemblance between the Faroese and Icelanders
suggests a similar ethnic composition, both are descended from predominantly Norse Viking populations which settled first
in the Faroes then Iceland in the 9th Century A.D. The results, not yet available, of the analysis of over 600 blood samples
will provide more precise information on the relative biological affinities of the Faroese and surrounding populations.