Study finds cavemen types definitely preferred blondes

LONDON - For those who are still considering whether men prefer blondes, a study may have provided proof in favour of the flaxen haired, if only because they appeal to the "caveman" within.

Academic researchers claim that north European women evolved light hair and blue eyes at the end of the Ice Age in order to stand out from the crowd and lure men away from the far more common brunette.

Blond hair originated through genetic necessity at a time when there was a shortage of both food and males, leading to a high ratio of women competing for smaller numbers of potential partners, according to the study published this week in the academic journal, Evolution and Human Behaviour.

Until these shortages around 10,000 to 11,000 years ago, humans had uniformly dark hair and eyes.

The physical ardour required for hunting bison, reindeer and mammoths in some regions meant many male hunters died and left women with a shrinking pool of breeders and that Flaxen-haired women arose out of a rare mutation, but increased in numbers when it was found that it led to greater chances of breeding.

But while blondes may have had more fun at the dawn of time, researchers at City University in London last year found that modern men responded more positively to pictures of brunettes and red-headed women, than to their blonde counterparts.

- INDEPENDENT