Curly Hair Distribution

April 4, 2019

Like all Europeans, most Italians have straight or wavy hair. Curly hair in Caucasoids is a western trait that decreases as you move east toward Asia. It's most common along the Mediterranean and Atlantic shores, with an average rate of ~17% in Italy, which is a little higher in the South than in the North, but not by much.

Hair form...is of little use in distinguishing white sub-groups. Most European hair is straight or slightly wavy, although exceptional individuals in the straightest-haired groups have ringlet forms. Curly hair of this description is quite common in western Ireland and in Wales; it is also frequent in the whole of North Africa and in the western Mediterranean shorelands of Europe. Eastern Europe is predominantly straight haired, and as one approaches mongoloid territory this condition of course becomes more pronounced.

Carleton S. Coon. The Races of Europe. New York: MacMillan, 1939.


Frequency of Curly Hair in Italy
(Darker Shading = More)


Ridolfo Livi. Antropometria Militare. Roma, 1896-1905.

2 comments

Latinus said...

But which is more common among Italians: straight or wavy??????
The stereotype of Italian hair, at least in my experience, is a coarse one, very voluminous.

Italianthro said...

I don't know exactly, probably wavy, but I don't think Italian hair is much different than other Western European hair.

Many examples:
http://italianthro.altervista.org/grande-fratello.html
http://italianthro.altervista.org/amici.html