About fair-haired mummies - 4th part

Index

1st part: henna, natron and Ramesses II 

2nd part: bog bodies and photo-oxidation 

3rd part: Tarim and Paracas mummies 

4th part: Egypt and Sudan


This fourth part will be devoted to natural mummies and skeletons found in Egypt. I will also add a “bonus mummy” about little-known remains found in Sudan.

In the next (and, hopefully, last 😁) part, we will see the latest techniques for hair melanin and colour analysis and we will review the various hypotheses about chemical processes which, according to researchers, may result in red hair in mummies.




THE GEBELEIN MAN, AKA GINGER

In the second part, speaking of photo-oxidation, I have mentioned the predynastic mummy called Gebelein Man, found in Gebelein (now Naga el-Gherira) in Upper Egypt, 40 km south of Thebes. It was found in 1896, along with five more mummies and it is dated circa 3400 BC.

The six bodies were found in shallow sand graves, along with partial remains of wicker, fur and linen, In the predynastic period, bodies were usually buried naked and sometimes loosely wrapped, and then covered in sand. Thanks to the warm climate, the water in the bodies would quickly evaporate, resulting in a natural mummification.


No genomic analysis has been performed on this mummy, but I don’t know if it is because the DNA is too degraded or for other reasons. I found out that in a study from 2023 by Alexandra Mussauer and colleagues (Genetic study of ancient Egyptian human remains dating from the Predynastic Period to the early Islamic Period (ca. 4000 cal. BCE - 800 cal. CE), 100 individuals were analysed from nine Egyptian archaeological sites, included Gebelein, and 25 mitogenomes were reconstructed. However, it is not clear which ones of the Gebelein mummies were chosen. Mussauer and her team found (unsurprisingly) 

further evidence for shared maternal ancestries between western Eurasian or northern African populations and ancient Egyptians during and after the New Kingdom. In addition, we also found western Eurasian mtDNA haplogroups in individuals dated to periods prior to the New Kingdom.

The same western Eurasian haplogroups were found in Y-DNA (transmitted from father to sons), and in particular a subclade of E1b1b1. 
(Unfortunately, all Alexandra Mussauer’s works on Ancient Egypt are not available on the internet).

In 2018, an analysis was performed on the hair of Ginger and of another mummy (EA 32572, an adult female), but (guess what?) NOT to find out their original colour! The study is Natural mummies from Predynastic Egypt reveal the world's earliest figural tattoos  and it was mostly aimed to study the tattoos still visible on these mummies. Some hairs were removed from the two mummies’ heads and used for radiocarbon dating with accelerator mass spectrometry. Isotope analysis was performed to gather information about the diet.

FAG EL-GAMOUS
Fag el-Gamous was a Christian cemetery located in the Faiyum Governorate, Egypt, dating from the 1st to the 7th century AD, the period of Roman rule in Egypt. It was discovered by a team of archaeologists from Brigham Young University (Utah, USA) in 1980.
As we will see, information about this archaeological site is rather vague.
The first strange thing is that it is not clear how many bodies were found, and in which conditions. Many artcles online talk of “a million mummies”, but according to this article from the Brigham Young University, by 2015 around 1000 mummies had been excavated. On the contrary, this study from 2014 mentions 350,000 individuals. 
In any case, as far as I could understand, not all of the remains were mummies with an exceptional preservation like the Tarim mummies, for example, and in many cases the bodies found were mostly skeletal.
Another strange thing is that there are very few pictures of the finds, especially of those with red and blond hair. The picture below is the only one I could find described as having red hair (source).

Blonds on one side, redheads on the other
As for the red- and blond-haired individuals buried there, this article states: 

Of the 37 adults whose hair was still preserved, the most interesting observation relates to the hair color. There were 4 redheads, 16 blondes, 12 with light or medium brown hair, and only 5 with dark brown or black hair. Of those whose hair was preserved 54% were blondes or redheads, and the percentage grows to 87% when light-brown hair color is added. Such a preponderance of light-colored hair was unexpected, and it will be interesting to see if this trait continues to be exhibited throughout the cemetery.

And this article states: 

While the database is in the early stages, it has already provided some intriguing initial results. Muhlestein said he and the other researchers can use the database to "show us all of the blond burials, and [it shows] they are clustered in one area, or all of the red-headed burials, and [it shows] they're clustered in another area."
These clusters are interesting because they suggest "perhaps we have family areas or genetic groups [in certain areas], but we're still trying to explore that," Muhlestein said.

This statement was later echoed by other online articles, like this one.

Faiyum Governorate on the map of Egypt

The elusive DNA analyses
According to this study, in 2013 the BYU began “ tissue sampling and DNA analysis of the estimated 150,000 burials at the ancient Fag el Gamous cemetery”, but I couldn’t find any publication with the results of these analyses. For example, in this recently-published article by Kerry Muhlestein (director for the excavation project) we read: 

… the analysis and publishing work will begin more intensely. The creation of a database will allow for more sophisticated research, and it will yield a tremendous amount of information about the lives and deaths of the people who lived in this part of Egypt during the Greco-Roman era. […] Once the burial database is finished, we anticipate that a great deal more research will be possible. We hope that we will be able to see patterns that yield insights into the lives of all those who lived in the Fayoum. Years of research, analysis, and publishing lie ahead.

So, apparently, the genomic analyses either have not been performed yet or have not been published.
The strange thing is that in Muhlestein’s curriculum vitae there is this entry: “Burials in the Fag el-Gamous Necropolis – C14 and DNA Analyses,” (refereed). Presented at the Bioarchaeology of Ancient Egypt and the International Symposium of Animals in Egypt, sponsored by the American University of Cairo, held January, 2019.”
So, it seems that in 2019 the results were available.
However, in this 2010 article we read that Dr Paul Evans, a BYU professor of microbiology,

compared the skeletons' cranial features and drilled tiny holes in the teeth to extract DNA samples for genetic testing.
He searched for genetic signals of in-migration to determine whether a Christian population moved in or whether native Egyptians converted to the faith. Evans says the findings are consistent with both possibilities.

It seems that DNA results (or, at least, a part of them) were available already in 2010. The same article states that “Hair types run the gamut from blond to black and straight to curly.”


A study on the hair from Fag el-Gamous
But, obviously, not on the colour!
The study is from 2002 (Morphological characteristics of hair of Egyptian mummies compared with hair from US Caucasoids, Mediterranean workers and Chinese, by Ball and colleagues) and aimed to study the morphology of the hair of individuals from Fag el-Gamous, in order to determine more about their origins. Basically, they took hair samples from workers at the excavations and called these samples “Mediterranean”. Then, they took hair samples from people from the city of Provo, Utah, and called these samples “Caucasoid” and, lastly, took hair samples from Chinese people. All these samples were compared with samples taken from 26 mummies. The result is that 

The mummy hair most resembled Caucasoid hair in terms of size, but most resembled Mediterranean hair in terms of shape. Female hair and male hair from individuals of the same racial type were generally significantly different in parameters of size, but not significantly different in parameters of shape.

As far as I could understand, with “size” they mean the diameter of the hair shaft and of the medulla, while with “shape” they mean not only straight/wavy/curly, but also fibres’ direction and shape (round/oval).
In any case, no reference to colour.

The image above comes from the paper by Dr Janet Davey Is ancestry, not natron, an explanation for fair haired children in Greco-Roman Egypt? (we mentioned it in first part of this article), where she referred to the hair of three fair-haired mummies from Egypt. Unfortunately, the provenance of the mummies in unknown, but they date back to the Greco-Roman Period (332 BC – c.395 AD). The paper features two more photos, which means that fair-haired Egyptian mummies are not uncommon and they have been known for more than one century (the three mummies from this paper were acquired by the British Museum in 1898).



ANTINOPOLIS
The city of Antinopolis was founded by Roman emperor Hadrian in 130 AD on the east bank of the Nile.
The most important excavations took place thanks to French archaeologist Albert Gayet (1856 - 1916), known as the "archaeologist of Antinoöpolis". His excavations have revealed mummies, grave goods and thousands of fabrics, as well as a large cemetery, the burial place of numerous Coptic Christians.

In the 2017 study The Luscious Locks of Lust: Hair and the Construction of Gender in Egypt from Clement to the Fātimids (by Christina Thérèse Rooijakkers) we read: 

Most of the mummies from Antinoöpolis have brown, reddish or even bright blond hair. It was originally believed that some of the women had dyed their hair with henna, but in a recent analysis of the hair of a number of mummies no dye or bleaching agents were found. […] It is very likely that the reddish brown or even blond colour has rather been caused by the degradation of the eumelanin pigment (black/brown) in favour of pheomelanin.

So, again, the usual mantra of eumelanin degradation that no-one ever demonstrated.
As for the analysis she mentions (that found no dye or bleaching agents), it was performed by Witold Nowik in 2013: Cheveux et couvre-chefs textiles: caractérisation des colorants. Nowik took 39 samples from dyed textiles and 9 hair samples (but I couldn’t find their colour), and analysed them with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in order to detect artificial or natural dyes on textiles or on hair.
The result is that only on textiles natural dyes have been found, while on hair samples no dye or degradation products have been found.
Now, the HPLC is one of those techniques that allows the identification of eumelanin and phaeomelanin in hair (as you can read in this study by melanin experts Shosuke Ito and Kazumasa Wakamatsu), but, again, in this case it was not used in that way.
We don’t know if in those 9 samples there were also red or blond hair, but since they were going to perform HPLC, they could well take a red and a blond sample and analyse the melanin content.


The golden mummy of Dunkerque

The mummy above has been found in Antinopolis by Albert Gayet in 1906 and is now in Dunkerque. It is a female, around 20 years of age when she died, and is called Ounnout (the Astrologer), because she was probably a priestess. The mummy, dated 2nd century AD, is covered with gold and lies on a bed of sycomore leaves and shells (more info here).

As you can read in this article, in 2015 hairs were taken from the mummy for analysis. Researchers found out that they were very degraded and fragile, and then they concluded Ounnout’s hair became blond because of proteines’ degradation due to UVA and UVB radiations and visible radiation (D'autre part, leur couleur jaune est liée à une dégradation des protéines des cheveux par une exposition aux rayons ultraviolets A et B, et aux rayons visibles.)
However, if you read the original study from 2013 (Hair surface and mechanical properties of Copt mummies from Antinopolis), you won’t find any test aiming to find out the original hair colour. The stated objective of the paper is to study hair surface morphology/topography, cuticle condition, mechanical properties and preservation differences among mummies (samples were taken from 11 mummies), so how can researchers know that Ounnout’s hair became blond due to UV radiations?
In the first part of this article, talking of photo-oxidation, we saw that, if a body remains under the sun so long that its hair changes colour, that body will never become a mummy, because it will be destroyed by atmospheric agents, wild animals, fungi, bacteria, ecc. This mummy is so well-preserved I doubt it has ever been exposed to atmospheric agents.
As if this were not enough, here you can see Ounnout’s museum ID, which reads, about its hair: "red, turned blond because of depigmentation".
So, basically, these people, without performing any colour analysis, managed to find out not only that this woman had red hair, but also that it became blond because depigmentation. They are indeed astrologers! 😂

source

In 2016, a new analysis was performed on the mummy using its hair, as you can read in Datation par le carbone 14 et restes humains. Une étude de cas : la momie dorée de Dunkerque.
Researchers took 66mg of hairs from the mummy and 45mg of hairs found on the leaves bed, with the aim of radiocarbon dating. No analysis of hair colour.


Red-haired heads from the Louvre

D.1909.55.3

D.1909.55.4

These two mummified heads kept at the Louvre were found in Antinopolis and, just like Ounnout, date back to the Roman period.
The first one (D.1909.55.4) is a female and the second (D.1909.55.4) a male.
In the description of the first one you can read: “Cheveux roux teints au henné?” that is “Red hair dyed with henna?”, while in the description of the second one you can read: “Cheveux roux teints au henné”, “Red hair dyed with henna”.
So, we see the usual pattern: they have all these archaeological red and blond hair and, instead of performing analyses to find out the original colour, make up improbable theories about photo-oxidation, eumelanin degradation and henna.



SEMNA SOUTH, NUBIA (SUDAN)
Semna was a fortified area established on the west bank of the Nile at the southern end of a series of fortresses founded during the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt (1985–1795 BC) in the area of Lower Nubia (Sudan), near the border with Egypt. There are three forts at Semna: Semna West (Semna Gharb), Semna East (Semna Sherq, also called Kummeh or Kumma), and Semna South (Semna Gubli).

Excavations in Semna South took place in 1956-1957 and 1966-1968.
The cemetery to the north of the fort contained approximately 560 graves (over 800 individuals) of which about 494 were from the Meroitic period (4th century BC – 4th century AD), 50 from the X-Group/Ballana culture period (4th – 6th century AD), and 16 from the Christian period (550 – 1500 AD). The Meroitic period through the Christian period is a span of approximately 2,000 years, which indicates that the fort was used for an extended period of time.
In 1978, Dr Daniel Bruce Hrdy published the study Analysis of hair samples of mummies from Semna South (Sudanese Nubia) (free download here) where he examined 76 hair samples from Semna South, using the techniques available at the time. I quote from the abstract:

However, the cuticular structure and the lack of fluorescence of the cortex indicate that the low humidity and non-alkaline conditions preserved the physical and chemical properties of the hair well. Pigmentation, even allowing for oxidation of melanin, showed a higher proportion of lighter samples than is currently associated with the Nubian area. Hair form analysis showed medium diameter and scale count; the curling variables were intermediate between European and African samples.

Now, here it is important to understand that Hrdy did observe oxidation of the cuticule and of keratin protein, but he didn’t make any test to verify if melanin oxidation took place as well, and if melanin oxidation resulted in red hair. When he writes “even allowing for oxidation of melanin”, he is simply drawing an inference based on the literture of the time, and that’s why he cites the 1963 work by Brothwell and Spearman The Hair of Earlier Peoples (in Science in archaeology; a comprehensive survey of progress and research, pages 427–436). I quote again “As Brothwell and Spearman (‘63) point out, reddish-brown ancient hair is usually the result of partial oxidation of the melanin pigment.”
Brothwell and Spearman's work was a pioneering comparative study of archaeological hair, based, among other things, on microscopic observations and pigmentation characteristics, but it lacked the spectroscopic and molecular techniques that would be used today to directly demonstrate melanin oxidation. As a matter of fact, the only evidence they bring for melanin oxidation is the usual hydrogen peroxide (that is, hair bleaching) that we have already met in the second part of this article, but obviously mummies’ hair did not came in contact with hydrogen peroxide.

The table above is featured in Hrdy’s paper and needs to be read in the right way.
Hrdy took 76 hair samples: 56 from Meroitic individuals, 15 from the X-Group and 5 from Christian individuals, and graded them according to the Fischer-Saller scale for hair colours. 
As you can see, the first part (on the left) goes from blond to black, while the second part (on the right) is about red. The two parts are not mutually exclusive, which means that a sample can be classified in both parts.


Hrdy writes: “Twenty-six percent (29% of the Meroitic, 13% of the Xgroup) of the total sample had some red pigmentation, and 10.5% (8.9 Meroitic, 13% Xgroup) had “blond” pigmentation.”
However, the “red” part is not to be interpreted as if the 26% of the samples had actual red hair, but rather “some red pigmentation”, like, for example, reddish shades on brown hair (that’s why the two parts are not mutually exclusive).
As for blond hair, Hrdy writes: 

However, the large number of blond hairs that are not associated with the cuticular damage that bleaching produces, probably points to a significantly lighter-haired population than is now present in the Nubian region. Brothwell and Spearman (’63) noted genuinely blond ancient Egyptian samples using reflectance spectrophotometry. Blondism, especially in young children, is common in many dark-haired populations (e.g., Australian, Melanesian), and is still found in some Nubian villages (J. Zabkar, personal communication). Only one sample (M197) showed cuticular damage and irregularities definitely consistent with bleaching, although bleaching could not be ruled out in some of the blond samples.

As for the DNA, I couldn’t find any genomic analysis on individuals from Semna South, although the human remains have been used in many researches, mostly about diseases and injuries (as you can read here).
A DNA analysis was performed on 66 individuals from another site in Nubia, Kulubnarti (dated 650-1000 AD). The 2021 study Social stratification without genetic differentiation at the site of Kulubnarti in Christian Period Nubia showed that the population of Kulubnarti had 42.5% Nilotic-related DNA and 57.5% West Eurasian-related DNA (the latter mostly through female lineage). The team concluded that the present-day Nubian people are not direct descendants of the people of Kulubnarti, attesting to additional genetic input since the Christian Period.
However, we don’t know if these results can be transferred to Semna South.

Late Summer Reds

Some random red hair art finds. Late summer, 2026.

This is my favourite of the bunch. An image of the dramatist Édouard Pailleron's wife, painted by John Singer Sargent.

Madame Edouard Pailleron

Next is another by Singer, along with a painting by Edward Hopper. Both are paintings where the red hair, though minimal, draws the focus of the image.

En route pour la pêche (Setting Out to Fish)

Nighthawks - Edward Hopper

Finally, we have some paintings by the German expressionist painter Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. I share them a little reluctantly, as they're not really to my taste. They're a bit ugly and disturbing, though admittedly interesting.

(We shared some of his paintings on here a few years ago. Seemingly he liked to paint redheads, so that's at least to his credit.

https://redhairmyths.blogspot.com/2024/12/red-hair-in-art-ernst-ludwig-kirchner.html )

Doris with Ruff Collar

Head of a Woman

Marzella

Street, Berlin

I guess that last one wasn't so bad. It was also another where the red hair pulled the focus.

About fair-haired mummies - 3rd part

Index

1st part: henna, natron and Ramesses II

2nd part: bog bodies and photo-oxidation 

3rd part: Tarim and Paracas mummies

4th part: Egypt and Sudan



In this third part we will see what we know and (above all) what we don’t know about the Tarim mummies found in China and the Paracas mummies of Peru. The next part will be about Egyptian natural mummies, because I found out that, besides the Gebelein Man I have already mentioned in the second part, more red- and blond-haired mummies and skeletons have been unhearted in Egypt, but (strangely enough) they’re not very famous.

I know some articles, speaking of red-haired mummies, also mention a red-haired mummy from the Guanche culture in the Canary Islands, but the picture featuring these articles is partly false, because it has been “reddened” with some sort of filter. The actual mummy has got dark brown hair, as you can see here. 




TARIM MUMMIES

The term "Tarim mummies" refers to a series of mummies (more than 300) unearthed in cemeteries along the edges of the Taklamakan Desert in the Tarim Basin, present-day Xinjiang, China.

The mummies span roughly from 2000 BC to 200 AD.
I quote a passage from Grokipedia about the extraordinary preservation of the mummies and their artifacts: 

The Tarim mummies were preserved through natural desiccation in the hyper-arid environment of the Tarim Basin, where annual precipitation is less than 50 mm and evaporation rates exceed 3,000 mm, creating conditions that rapidly dehydrate tissues and inhibit microbial activity. Saline soils, rich in salts like sodium chloride, further contribute by drawing out residual moisture and acting as a natural preservative, preventing putrefaction even in shallow burials. This process allowed soft tissues, hair, skin, and internal organs to remain intact for millennia, with the mummies dating primarily from circa 2000 BCE to the early centuries CE.

These mummies proved to be a very controversial find for the Chinese government, as you can read here.

The red-haired mummies (obviously 😁) became the most popular. They are the Cherchen Man (probably dating to 800 BC), described as having reddish brown hair flecked with grey and a ginger beard; the Beauty of Loulan (arond 1800 BC), whose hair is described as auburn; the Princess of Xiaohe (about 1800 BC), with reddish-brown hair (here you can see some HD pictures of several mummies). There are probably more of them (with blond hair as well), but these are the most famous.

The Princess of Xiaohe

In 2021, a first genomic test was performed (The genomic origins of the Bronze Age Tarim Basin mummies, by Fan Zhang and colleagues) although in previous years mtDNA  and Y-DNA of some mummies were analysed. In this 2021 study, 33 samples were taken, but only 18 could be used: 13 were from the Tarim Basin and dated 2100-1700 BC, while the remaining 5 were from the Dzungarian Basin (north of the Tarim Basin) and dated 3000-2800 BC.
The 13 Tarim samples were mainly from Xiaohe (with some from Gumugou e Beifang) and belonged to the Early Bronze Age: that is, they were chosen among the most ancient mummies. The reason of this choice is that researchers wanted to understand the very origin of the Xiaohe population, before following migrations. They also wanted to make a comparison between the population of Dzungaria (related to the Afanasievo culture) and Tarim.
The result was that the mummies had high levels of Ancient North Eurasian ancestry (ANE, about 72%), with smaller admixture from Ancient Northeast Asians (ANA, about 28%). What does that mean? It simply means that those 13 mummies showed a high genetic affinity with the proxy of ANE population, that is, the individual called Afonotova Gora 3 (who lived 18,000 years ago). However, Afontova Gora 3 doesn’t represent the whole of Ancient North Eurasians and the study itself calls AG3 “a distant representative” of ANE ancestry.” This is a small but important detail.
The three red-haired mummies mentioned above were not included in this study. Cherchen Man was too recent, while the Beauty of Loulan was from Loulan and not from Xiaohe. As for the Princess of Xiaohe, we don’t know why it was not included (maybe the DNA couldn’t be used). However, in all internet articles about the Tarim mummies and their ancestry, usually we find the pictures of these red-haired mummies (for example in this article from the National Geographic), so, obviously, readers assume that these mummies were genetically tested and they have ANE ancestry. Maybe they do have ANE ancestry, but we don’t have any evidence of that.


In this 2021 paper there is a link called Supplementary Data 1, from which you can download a file with, among other things, the phenotypic traits of the studied individuals. The sample from Gumugou (GMGM1) seems to have a call for the A allele of the SNP rs11547464 on the MC1R gene (that would be the mutation R142H), which may result in red hair, but I couldn’t find any information on the actual hair colour of this mummy. Another sample (L5209) has a call for the C allele of rs12821256 on the KITLG gene, associated with blond hair (that would be the same mutation found on the Afontova Gora 3 remains I mentioned above), but, again, I couldn’t find any information on the mummy’s hair colour (and this is odd, in my opinion).

Cherchen Man

In 2025, Dr Zhang and colleagues performed a new genomic study, Bronze and Iron Age genomes reveal the integration of diverse ancestries in the Tarim Basin. This time they sequenced 24 genomes from the western Tarim Basin, spanning from Bronze to Iron Age (roughly from 1600 to 1000 BC) and found a strong component derived from pastoral steppe populations (which the authors link to the eastward expansion of Andronovo-related groups) and admixtures from the Bactria-Margiana Archeological Complex. Not even this time the red-haired mummies mentioned above were analysed. Several articles (included Wikipedia) write these mummies have this or that ancestry, but I couldn’t find any paper.


As for their hair, it was not analysed either, so, technically, we don’t know whether the colour is natural or not, but, (unlike what happens with other mummies) in this case no-one posits this or that chemical process to explain the colour. All articles and books about the Tarim mummies simply describe it, and that’s all. Apparently, the Taklamakan Desert is not conducive to hair colour changes. 😅
So, basically, we have these three mummies with reddish hair, but we don’t know if this is their original colour and don’t know if they have mutations for red hair.




PARACAS MUMMIES
The Paracas culture was a pre-Columbian Andean civilisation that developed on the southern coast of Peru, primarily in the Ica, Chincha, and Pisco valleys, from approximately 800 BC to 200 BC. It was named after the Paracas Peninsula, where major archaeological sites were first identified (the Paracas Peninsula is also famous for the geoglyph called Paracas Candelabra).
The Paracas culture is known today above all for cranial modification and elongated skulls.
In the Peninsula, two distinct types of cemeteries have been found. The earliest example is called Paracas Cavernas and is characterized by internments in subterranean caverns, with burials conical in shape and wrapped in a coarse outer cloth sewn closed.
In the late Paracas era, called Necropolis phase, we have above-ground stone chambers containing densely packed flexed bundles, often including multiple individuals. The Necropolis site's Wari Kayan cemetery, excavated by Julio C. Tello in 1929, yielded 429 so-called mummy bundles, arranged in clusters within and around abandoned structures on a hillside.

Drawing illustrating a Paracas Cavernas burial (source)

Thanks to very high aridity, low humidity and, probably, saline soil (conditions similar to those of the Tarim Desert), rapid dehydration and a slowing of decomposition occurred, elements that allowed the preservation not only of the bodies, but also of the funerary objects and textiles. As a matter of fact, the Paracas Necropolis textiles and embroideries are considered to be some of the finest ever produced by Pre-Columbian Andean societies. They are the primary works of art by which Paracas culture is known.

According to the 2015 study Pre-Columbian population dynamics in coastal southern Peru: A diachronic investigation of mtDNA patterns in the Palpa region by ancient DNA analysis,  the mitocodrial DNA (trasmitted from mother to children) of the Paracas Peninsula and Palpa were mostly D and C. For one individual from the necropolis of Wari Kayan we have both mtDNA and Y-DNA (transmitted from father to sons): mtDNA is D1 and Y-DNA is Q1b1a1a1 (see here). As far as I could see, these are the only data from the genetic point of view.

As for the hair, I found two hair analyses, but (guess what?) they’re not about the colour.
In the study Paleodiet in the Paracas Necropolis of Wari Kayan: carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of keratin samples from the south coast of Peru, the hair of 14 mummies from Wai Kayan were analysed to investigate paleomobility and paleodiet.
In the study Raman Spectroscopy and STR Analysis of the Elongated Skulls from the Paracas Mummies of Peru (2022, Thornton and colleagues)  a skull from Palpa was analysed with (among other techniques) Raman spectroscopy and microscope, in order to ascertain that the hair belonged to a human being (as you probably know, several fringe theories claim the Paracas were not human).

Now (as you can read in the study), the hair on this skull was described as red and (as I wrote in the first part of this article) the Raman spectroscopy is one of the techniques which can be used (often with others) to determine the real colour of archaeological hair. However, these researchers did not perform this kind of analysis! They had the chance to find out if this individual was really a redhead, but didn’t take it. On the contrary, they repeated the mantra that eumelanin is less stable than phaeomelanin, while in the second part of this article we saw this statement is not scientifically correct and there’s a single evidence that eumelanin is less stable than phaeomelanin under all circumstances. I quote some passages from the study: 

The hair from the Paracas skull was dark and almost reddish in color, supporting the earlier observation that the Paracas mummies were comprised mostly, if not entirely, of redheads (Dr. Dennis Swift, personal communication). […] Pheomelanin tends to be stable in the hair even under extreme conditions; however, eumelanin is less chemically stable than pheomelanin and breaks down much more rapidly when oxidized. Even in wet oxidizing climates, the eumelanin in the hair is lost over extended periods of time, leaving behind the red pigment, pheomelanin. Thus, the color of hair changes faster under extreme conditions and will often turn a reddish color. Consequently, it is difficult, if not speculative, to assume that the Paracas society was a population of redheads.

In the second part I also explained that, since in all hair colours but red the amount of phaeomelanin is very small, should all eumelanin disappear, the remaining phaeomelanin wouldn’t be enough to colour the hair red (and the authors of this study should have known that).

Although dated, I think it is worth mentioning the paper that forensic anthropologist Mildred Trotter (1899 - 1991) wrote in 1943, Hair from Paracas Indian Mummies.
In this study, Trotter examined the hair of 10 Paracas mummies (two females and eight males) collected by Julio Tello in 1925 and preserved in Lima. She writes “In general, the color was a rusty brown and gave the appearance of having faded.” This sentence is often interpreted as if she said that the original colour was dark and that, because of some chemical process, the colour lightened. However, this is not was she meant, as we read in this excerpt from the book American Indians in the Pacific (1952), written by Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl (we mentioned him here). Heyerdahl writes:  

Dr. Trotter (1951) wrote me as follows with reference her paper quoted above: "I have gone over all the evidence we have and have discussed it with Mr, O. H. Duggins, who is now working with me on the subject of the hair. His background is an interesting one, since he has worked in the hair and fiber section of the F. B. I. I have come to the conclusion that there are two mistakes in my paper on the mummies' hair. The first mistake was to introduce the word 'Indian', and the second was the use of the word 'faded'. Now I shall try to answer your direct questions with a direct answer. The hair of the Paracas mummies which I examined in 1943 may have changed color and texture slightly. However, the amount of change in either colour or texture from any evidence we have would not deny that the original colour was a reddish brown and that the original texture was fine." Although no reason was found to warrant the hypothesis that the reddish-brown scalps had ever 'faded' from blue-black, microscopic examination showed that the light yellow hairs, interspersed to a very slight extent in eight of the samples, contained no pigment, and hence presumably had been even lighter, or white.

 

The huge Trotter collection (more than 6000 hair samples) still exists and is kept at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. In 2024, a team of researchers re-examined some the hair samples collected by Trotter (see here), but we don’t know if the 10 samples she studied in 1943 still exist and were re-examined. In any case, the 2024 team didn’t attempt to find out if the hair colour we see in these samples is the original one. As far as colour was concerned, they only studied density and distribution of melanosomes. So, basically, one more lost opportunity to solve the mystery of red-haired mummies.

For the sake of completeness it is also worth mentioning the 2009 study Multi-analytical techniques for the study of pre-Columbian mummies and related funerary materials, in which mummies and various archaeological finds from the necropolis of Ancòn (Peru) were examined (dated betwen 11th and 13th century AD). As you can read in the abstract, various techniques were used to identiy pigments and organic dyes and it turned out that one mummy had a red pigment on its hair, cinnabar. As you can see, identifying red dyes on archaeological hair is perfectly feasible.

About fair-haired mummies - 2nd part

Index

1st part: henna, natron and Ramesses II 

2nd part: bog bodies and photo-oxidation

3rd part: Tarim and Paracas mummies 

4th part: Egypt and Sudan

In this second part we will start examining the natural mummies. You probably know that the most famous red-haired mummies are those found in desertic environments, but I’ve decided to begin this article with the bog bodies. Many think the chemistry behind the red hair of the bog bodies is well known, but this is not the case. What we will see in this paragraph will be useful in the next article as well, where we will talk about the desertic mummies.

Bog bodies

The so-called bog bodies are naturally mummified bodies (or skeletons) found in peat bogs, which are usually distributed in cold, temperate climes, mostly in boreal ecosystems in the Northern Hemisphere (we have mentioned them in this article). The anaerobic environment and presence of tannic acids within bogs can result in the remarkable preservation of organic material. Furthermore, the high levels of acidity often darken the skin of these bodies and turn their hair a vibrant red, although not all bog bodies have red hair. There is even a “bog dog” found in Lower Saxony (Germany) and its fur too turned reddish. 

As a matter of fact, we still don’t know the chemical process that causes some of these mummies to have red hair. The explanation usually given (here’s an example) is that the dark pigment eumelanin, being less stable than the yellow-red phaeomelanin, degrades over the millennia, so the remaining phaeomelanin gives hair a reddish colour. However, there is no evidence of that. 

Osterby Man

Eumelanin vs Phaeomelanin

The problem is that speaking of this or that melanin being more stable or resistant than the other doesn’t make any sense, because it all depends on the context where the melanin is, so to speak. Besides, not only melanins are made up of several elements (that’s why they are considered polymers, or biopolymers), but the two are also very different the one from the other (see, for instance, A Comparative Study of the Physical and Chemical Properties of Melanins Isolated from Human Black and Red Hair).

Apparently, the idea of eumelanin being less stable comes from the 1987 study Chemical- and photo-bleaching of brown and red hair (by Wolfram & Albrecht) which, however, is not about peat bogs or mummies. It studies hair bleaching with hydrogen peroxide and sunlight, and the authors conclude that, under those conditions, phaeomelanin is more resistant to bleaching than eumelanin.

Subsequently, archaeologists extended this observation to peat bog mummies and mummies in general. However, since the original experimental evidence does not concern peat bogs, but rather cosmetic bleaching and photodamage, transferring that result to a peat bog environment (acidic, anoxic, rich in humic acids and poor in oxidizing radicals) is a plausible hypothesis, but not a proof.

In following studies eumelanin proved to be more stable tnat phaeomelanin.

For example, as we will see in the next paragraph, under UV radiations phaeomelanin is less photo-stable and degrades more quickly that eumelanin. 

The 2005 study by Yan Liu and colleagues Comparison of Structural and Chemical Properties of Black and Red Human Hair Melanosomes shows that eumelanin is more resistant to chemical and mechanical manipulations. 

The study Sediment-encased pressure–temperature maturation experiments elucidate the impact of diagenesis on melanin-based fossil color and its paleobiological implications  shows that, during the maturation of modern feathers in conditions simulating fossilisation, eumelanin is more stable than phaeomelanin, so much so that dark colours are preserved better than reddish ones. Of course, a peat bog isn't a fossil deposit subjected to high pressure and temperature, so that result can't be automatically transferred. However, it does demonstrate that the relative stability of the two pigments depends greatly on the chemical environment, and that there's no universal rule that phaeomelanin would always be the more resistant.

The 2016 review Fifty Shades of Black and Red or How Carboxyl Groups Fine Tune Eumelanin and Pheomelanin Properties summarises the knowledge accumulated over the past years on the chemistry of melanins and explains that the properties of eumelanin and phaeomelanin are much more variable than previously thought. Authors explain that both melanins are families of polymers and that small structural differences profoundly alter their properties. "Eumelanin" does not exist as a single material: its stability depends on its chemical composition, so comparing "eumelanin" and "phaeomelanin" as if they were two pure substances is an oversimplification.

Bocksten Man

Possible scenarios

I have not studied all the bog bodies (here’s the list), but in a least two cases the original hair colour was found out. Osterby Man was described as dark blond, while Yde Girl was described as blond. 

Now, in blond hair there are very small amounts of eumelanin and phaeomelanin, so, if all eumelanin should degrade, the remaining phaeomelanin wouldn’t be enough to colour the hair a vibrant red. 

Besides, if palaeochemists managed to identify the original hair colour of these two bodies, it means that both melanins were still there, at least in part. 

The logical conclusion is that the red colour we see in bog bodies is not caused by eumelanin degradation, but by other processes, that could be: 

- chemical alteration of eumelanin without complete destruction, with a change in its optical properties;

- alteration of keratin, which changes the way light is scattered by the hair;

- adsorption of humic substances or iron complexes on the hair surface;

- a combination of these phenomena.

An often overlooked factor is that hair is an optical as well as a pigmentary material. Colour depends not only on the amount of melanin, but also on how light passes through the cortex, is absorbed by melanosomes, and scatters by keratin. If the microstructure changes over decades or centuries, the perceived colour can change even without a massive loss of pigment.

Besides, since not all bog bodies show red hair, probably this reddening also depends on several more factors, such as how long the body remains in peat, the chemical composition of the bog, the temperature, the amount of iron in peat, pH levels and, probably, the individual’s natural hair colour. 

A very curious thing is that one of the humic substances of peat bogs is called fulvic acid, because of its reddish brown colour (fulvus in Latin means tawny or reddish yellow).

Fulvic acid isolated from peat

Is there a way to clarify the matter?

Oddly enough, no studies have recreated an "artificial peat bog" in the laboratory specifically to observe the colour changes in human hair. Such an experiment would be relatively simple to design and, I assume, not too expensive. Furthermore, it would not be necessary to take hair samples from the mummies.

As we have seen in the previous article, archaeologists are often more interested in diet, DNA, causes of death and overall preservation, and original hair colour has been considered a secondary issue. Besides, well-preserved bog bodies are few and museums tend to limit destructive hair samplings.

In any case, since bogs are more common in the Northern Emisphere, some of the mummies may well have natural red hair.

(As for the darkening of these mummies’ skin, the process seems to be clearer. Basically, thanks to the tannic acids, the skin undergoes a sort of tanning like in the tanning of leather. Here are a couple of articles on the subject: 1 and 2).

Photo-oxidation

Photo-oxidation is sometimes brought up to explain the red hair of certain mummies. 

Photo-oxidation is the degradation of a polymer surface (and we have seen that melanin is a polymer) due to the combined action of light and oxygen. Today, it is the most significant factor in the weathering of plastics.

On the left, a rope which has been degraded by weathering. On the right, a fresh rope

Through this process, when hair is exposed to sunlight, the ensuing chemical reaction leads to various structural and aesthetic changes in hair fibers.

As far as colour is concerned, photo-oxidation can alter the pigmentation of hair, leading to fading or discoloration. This is particularly noticeable in dyed or bleached hair, which may lose its vibrancy over time. Prolonged exposure to UV radiation can also weaken the hair, resulting in a loss of elasticity. This makes hair more prone to breakage and split ends. 

The whole process involves the interaction of UV light with the hair's chemical components, primarily keratin and melanin. This interaction can degrade melanin, causing lighter or altered shades. Furthermore, as free radicals increase and keratin is also damaged, the hair becomes more porous and appears "discolored". 

Photo-oxidation is a phenomenon you can observe on yourself as well: if you spend a lot of time in the sunlight, especially in the summer, you hair can become lighter. I remember that one summer I would often dry my hair under the sun and at the end of the summer it had lightened so much that even my hairdresser noticed.  

There are several laboratory experiments on photo-oxidation (I will link some of them below) but none of them shows that hair can become red as a result of photo-oxidation. According to the amounts of eumelanin and phaeomelanin, hair can get reddish or copper shades, or it can become browninsh, warm brown, browninsh with reddish shades. but it will never become red as in a person with natural red hair.

The 2009 review Photoaggravation of Hair Aging, citing previous works, argues (as we mentioned in the previous paragraph) that eumelanin has got a higher photostability than phaeomelanin and it is more resistant to UV radiations. This is the reason why blond and especially red hair lighten more quickly than dark hair. 

The 2018 review Photodegradation of Eumelanin and Pheomelanin and Its Pathophysiological Implications shows that, with repeated exposure to UVA and blue light, eumelanin also degrades and progressively loses part of its protective efficacy. That’s why dark hair can get reddish shades. 

A very important point to understand is that no study has ever demonstrated that a colour can change to the point of entering another colour class, that is, becoming another colour. Even when hair colour lightens, it doesn't become another colour. 

For example, in the 2004 study Hair color changes and protein damage caused by ultraviolet radiation (Nogueira and Joekes) the authors proved that UVA radiations lighen hair colours, especially blond and above all red, but they didn’t observe an extreme colour change. The reason is that photo-oxidation gradually degrades melanin, but does not completely eliminate it, as can be achieved by bleaching with high-concentration peroxide. Furthermore, as melanin degrades, keratin damage increases, so the hair tends to reach a sort of plateau: it continues to deteriorate structurally, but the colour does not continue to lighten indefinitely. This trend is consistent with experimental studies on photobleaching (at the bottom of the article I’ve linked more experiments like this one).

In the forensic field, these changes in hair colour are a well-known aspect, but what’s the problem with mummies? The problem is that (as you can easily understand), if a body remains under the sun for such a long time that its hair undergoes a visibile colour change, eventually that body will be destroyed by weather, wild animals and bacteria and will never become a mummy, let alone a well-preserved mummy like the ones we know. 

As a matter of fact, photo-oxidation was mentioned to explain the red colour of the hair of one of the Gebelein predynastic mummies, the one called EA 32751 and kept in the British Museum. This mummy was formely known as Ginger, but then, after the Human Tissue Act 2004, the British Museum has developed policies for ethical treatment of human remains, and no longer uses this nickname. They clearly think that a code name such as EA 32751 is less “offensive” than Ginger. 😁

These mummies are naturally mummified bodies found in Upper Egypt and dating back to about 3000 BC.

Ginger and his red hair

Now, something curious happened with the Wikipedia page about the Gebelein mummies. Here’s the previous Wikipedia page (from June 2026) and, as you can see, at the end of the first section there are two paragraphs about Ginger’s hair colour. Photo-oxidation is mentioned to explain the red colour, but then they add “there is no evidence to suggest that the Gebelein mummies were subjected to years of prolonged sunlight following their burial.” Dr Janet Davey (see previous article) is also mentioned, along with her experiment with natron and her conclusion that “a minority of ancient Egyptians could have had naturally fair or reddish hair.” However, these two paragraphs are no longer present on the current page and no possible explanation is given for Ginger’s red hair. If you check the history of this article on Archive, you’ll see that these paragraphs about Ginger’s hair colour first appeared on the 5th September 2025, so they only stayed online for less than a year. 

Since I am on this subject, I want to add something that has nothing to do with mummies. Photo-oxidation is sometimes brought up to explain the red hair seen on natives by early explorers of Polynesia (we talked about it here). According to this explanation, those explorers did not see natural red hair, but dark or brown hair with reddish shades caused by prolonged photo-oxidation. It may be, although I find it strange that all those explorers couldn’t tell the difference between natural red hair and dark/brown hair with reddish shades. As a matter of fact, if you read their reports, they seem quite good at distinguishing different nuances of colours. Besides, some of the natives they met also had fair skin. 

Some studies on photo-oxidation

Measuring oxidative damage to human hair from solar radiation and pollution: A critical review 

 

Effects of solar radiation on hair and photoprotection 

A study of the photolightening mechanism of red hair with visible and ultraviolet light: comparison with blond hair 

Human hair melanins: what we have learned and have not learned from mouse coat color pigmentation

Photoprotective actions of natural and synthetic melanins 

A study of the photolightening mechanism of blond hair with visible and ultraviolet light 

Photodamage determination of human hair