Do sicilians have african descent?

Question

im wondering how sicilians get their dark features and just what makes up an sicilian?

where do sicilians get their dark features from?

i was just curious to know why in the past people wasn't sure how to categorize italians racially and i guess that can go for the sicilians as well?

Answer 1

It's a combination of being Greek decedents and living close to the equator. Typically the closer you are the more pigment you need to protect yourself from the sun. I'm sure some Sicilians have African descent. By some Sicilians I mean within the last 2,000 years. Eventually we all end up in Africa.

Answer 2

North Africa is an component of the Mediterranean, and in historic past different Mediterranean peoples traded and had huge dealings with human beings in that component of the worldwide, so besides the undeniable fact that no longer all Sicilians are of North African descent, it may make experience if some interbred there. there are countless dark Sicilians, Spanish, and different Italians, and that probable comes from Africa (exceedingly in Spain's case). Likewise, many North Africans are somewhat ecu looking.

Answer 3

The first towns in Sicily were founded by the Phoenicians, and followed soon after by the Greeks. There was a great deal of trade back and forth between what is now the Middle East and Sicily. Later there was also abundant trade between the ports of North Africa and Sicily. The Africans towns were also for the most part of Greek or Phoenician origin, but of course they attracted Berbers, Arabs and other Africans, some of whom entered the Mediterranean trade and found their way to Sicily and elsewhere around the sea. So Sicilians often have very complex and mixed backgrounds, including in many cases some African descent.

Answer 4

Both of my parents are Sicilian. My grandmother on my father's side was fair with blue eyes. My brother has blue eyes. Though my mother is of darker complexion, I often wondered if there was some Tunisian or Greek influence. I once saw a documentary of Tunisia and some of the women looked a lot like my mother.

Answer 5

First, we are all Africans, because biologically modern humans evolved in Africa and migrated worldwide. But you wouldn't know that by looking at our features.

Second, people around the Mediterranean have a certain look that is different from people living farther from it. Of course, there is variation around the Mediterranean, as there is in any one city, village, or family. But there are some common elements of Mediterranean appearance that suggest a high extent of migration and intermarriage in recent millennia.

Third, Sicily was specifically colonized by Hellenic settlers, and their competition was instrumental in the decline of Athens (as well as the source of the expression "Pyrrhic victory").

Fourth, if you reason mathematically, you will quickly realize that we must all have mixed ancestry. Steven Olson spells some of this out in his book Mapping Human History. You have two biological parents, four biological grandparents, eight biological great-grandparents, etc. Pretty soon, the exponential growth of your ancestry outnumbers the world's population at some point. Now, assume small movements of population are commonplace within larger regions, such as East Asia, North America, or the Mediterranean. Now, if one person crossed a boundary between two regions (not that anybody in all of human history ever traveled, of course), and had children locally (no, no, this was never heard of!), the descendants after a number of generations would be pretty much everyone in that area.

I think the example some people use is that we are all descendants of Genghis Khan, whether we think we're Thai, Tswana or Tlingit.

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personal note: I claim Irish ancestry, but my Irish-American grandfather was 6'4", red-haired, and skinny. My Irish-American grandmother was 5'3", brown-curly-haired, and not so skinny. Granddad bequeathed me his pigmentation (stock tip: invest in sunscreen!), Grandmom her moles. Both were considered typically Irish in appearance, and looked very little like each other, beyond species similarity. For typically Irish, we're not very Celtic looking - more like Vikings and Iberians... which can be explained by Irish history. Oh, and the Iberians of the 16th century had been intermarrying with North Africans for eight centuries. Incidentally, my boss is Sicilian, and no darker than my "Dark Irish" Grandmother.

Answer 6

First, they were colonized by the ancient Greeks. Then they were invaded by the Sarazins, Moors, Arabs, who are from the "continent" of Africa. Not all Africans are black. Some are Semitic (i.e., Muslims, Hebrews). Sicilians do not descend from black Africans from central and southern Africa, but from those of the north: Morocco, Tunisia, Lybia..., even Turkey which is between Asia and Europe. Even some of Sicilian folkloric music has Arab influence. I am of Calabrian descent, and the same thing happened in Calabria, across the strait of Messina. The original natives of parts of Calabria, before Greek colonization were the mountain cannibals who ate Ulysees' men in the famous Greek epic. Remember that this was way before the Muslim invasions.

Answer 7

DNA tests are showing that all people, including Scandinavians, eventually go back to Africa.

Racial categories are largely political. For instance I have seen someone make statements about "Hispanics and whites."

But the Spanish are white. Actually the people of Castille look pretty much like the Anglo Saxon American. Now in Andalusia they are darker as they are close to Morocco. Spain was dominated by the Moors at one time.

The Hispanics of the Americas are mostly mixed in with the native population that was already there before the coming of the Conquistadors. However, I had an Indian great great grandmother. I was born with red hair, blue eyes and a skin cancer type complexion. Does that great great grandmother mean I am not all white?

After the Civil War, Southern states along with Delaware, Missouri passed laws forbidden marriages between black and white.

Louisiana naturally did also. The Catholic Church then told the Louisiana legislature they would have to define a white man for them. At first, the Legislature decided it would be someone who is no more than
1/156 black. One Legislator from Orleans parish who was 1/78th black objected. You
can understand since the white man had privileges the black man didn't he wanted to make sure he was a white man when they got through legislating. So they passed a law saying anyone with no more than 1/78th black blood is a white man.

Some Louisianians think that that is a rule. They are surprised when they move elsewhere that it isn't. Some will say that is what the Catholic Church says. No, the Catholic Church has only followed civil law regarding marriages. The Catholic Church just asked for the Legislature to define a white man.

There was a priest in the Galveston Houston diocese from Louisiana and he was going to prepare a couple for marriage and he asked about an investigation into their racial background. He was told, "we don't go there."

Answer 8

All the evidence points to Ethiopia. We are all descendent from that country as there is no place on earth that has uncovered any evidence that is older than "Lucy" and the "Daughter of Lucy". As for skin colour, you need to look at this planet and it's environments. We all have skin pigments. These pigments protect our skin from harmfull radiation from the sun. The closer to the Equator, the darker the skin, the closer to either of the North and South Poles, the lighter the skin. This is simply due to the fact that in some regions, they can get as little as three weeks of sunshine per year, the rest of the year is darkness and cold. Equatorial areas have at least 12 hours of sunshine per day and are extremely hot. Northern Europeans tend to have light hair with fair skin whereas Africans have dark skin and dark hair. Eye colour is also defined in the same way, which explains why all Africans have brown eyes. A Sicilian is related to Italians and as Sicily is a Mediteranean Island, it can get hot for most of the year and it's mild in winter. Therefore, sunlight and temperature is genetically imprinted and defines the tanned skin.

Answer 9

85% of American-Italians are from the southern states of Italy. Oddly, Italy is younger than the USA. Recent DNA studies show that those with roots in the south have the greatest influence of Arabs and Jews. DNA on indigenous animals does show they are from Africa. Not sure where the Arabs come from but given the animals I would say it is very possible.

Answer 10

Probably, but I know one thing... we are ALL rebels and cut throats like the Irish. It's no wonder why there are so many Siclian-Irish couples. Great mix btw, however dangerous.