John Hawks illustrates what can be gained at the intersection of old data and analysis and new knowledge, Quote: Boyd on New World pigmentation clines:
I'm using some statistics out of William Boyd's 1956 printing of Genetics and the Races of Man[1]. It gives a good accounting of blood group data known more than fifty years ago, which I'm using to illustrate my intro lectures. Meanwhile, there are some interesting passages, from the standpoint of today's knowledge of the human genome and its variation. On skin pigmentation -- this is the earliest statement I've run across of the argument that the New World pigmentation cline is shallower than the Old World cline because of the relative recency of occupation....
Looking at what was said about pigmentation generations ago is of interest because it's a trait which in many ways we have pegged. See Molecular genetics of human pigmentation diversity. Why ...
