Huns.

[Gaius Octavius]

Is it true that left over Huns, in Switzerland today, have a blue spot, or coloring, at the bases of their spines? Read that somewhere.

Edited October 4, 2007 by Gaius Octavius

[ASCLEPIADES]

Is it true that left over Huns, in Switzerland today, have a blue spot, or coloring, at the bases of their spines? Read that somewhere.

Salve, GO

 

You're probably talking about the Mongolian (not Hunnish) spot (everywhere, not only in Switzerland):

 

Alternative Names:

Mongolian blue spot, child fleck, sacral fleck, newborn blue fleck, newborn sacral blue fleck, Semitic mark, Semitic stain, congenital dermal melanocytosis, dermal melanocytosis

Mongolische Flecken (G), tache mongolique (F), mancha mongolica (S), Moukohan (J)

Forms:

Mongolian spots are blue, bluish-gray, bluish-green or blue-black flat skin markings that appear at birth or shortly thereafter during the infantile age. The edges are usually indistinct and the shapes are irregular. The sizes and the numbers are various.

Distribution:

Mongolian spots are mostly located at the base of the spine, on the lower back and buttocks. They can also appear on the shoulders, upper back, arms, wrists, legs, ankles, lateral abdomen and elsewhere. Palms, soles, face and head are usually spared.

 

Variants:

1) Persistent Mongolian spots are larger and have sharper borders. They may persist for many years.

2) Deep blue Mongolian spots are deeper colored and have sharper borders. They may persist as long as persistent Mongolian spots.

3) Ectopic Mongolian spots or aberrant Mongolian spots involve unusual areas such as the face or extremities.

Incidence:

The prevalence of Mongolian spots varies among different ethnic groups according to the overall depth of pigmentation. Mongolian spots are common among Asian, East Indian, and African races, but rare among Caucasian and other races. Reported incidences in representative ethnic infants are as follows:

Asian: 95-100%, East African: 90-95%, Native American: 85-90%, Hispanic: 50-70%, Caucasian: 1-10%

Causes:

Mongolian spots are caused by entrapment of melanocytes in the dermis during their migration from the neural crest into the epidermis in fetal development. Microscopically dermal melanocytoses are seen in all newborn babies irrespective of race.

Differences in the number of dermal melanocytes may cause the racial variation.

Prognosis:

The bluish discolorations usually fade after a few years and almost disappear between age 7 to 13 years. Therefore, no treatment is required in most cases.

 

Differentials:

Blue nevi, nevi of Ota, and bruises should be differentiated.

Occasionally, Mongolian spots are mistaken for bruises caused by child abuse. Careful observation by a specialist will easily allow differentiation.

It is important to recognize that Mongolian spots are birthmarks, NOT bruises.

 

Here's a good link with some nice pics by Hironao Numabe (Tokyo)

[Gaius Octavius]

Weren't the Huns a Mongoloid group?

[ASCLEPIADES]

Weren't the Huns a Mongoloid group?

A common opinion, but hardly a consensus; many scholars consider them Turkish ("Caucasoid"), and others even think they had no ethnic identity (ie, they may have been a confederacy of unrelated populations).

Edited October 4, 2007 by ASCLEPIADES

[DecimusCaesar]

Weren't the Huns a Mongoloid group?

A common opinion, but hardly a consensus; many scholars consider them Turkish ("Caucasoid"), and others even think they had no ethnic identity (ie, they may have been a confederacy of unrelated populations).

 

It seems that as the Huns pushed towards the Roman Empire, they intergrated with the Germanic tribes they fought against. There is some suggestion that Odoacer was a Hun, because his father, Edeco, served in Attila's court. So, being part of the Mongoloid group might not define a Hun.

[Marcus_Aurelius]

I think you'll find some hunnish characteristics in Hungarians.Until the beginning of the 20th century 1 in 4 hungarians had the mongolian spot,especially szekely people had this birth sign,a hungarian speaking people living in Romania.

The Szekely regard themselves as turanic people and during the Romanian Independence War in 1877 when Romania and Russia were at war with the Ottoman Empire,Szekelys from Austro-Hungary at that time threatened to attack Romanian cities and villages if the war against Turkey were to continue.

Also check the fairy tales and culture of the Szekelys,you'll find an interesting culture both European and Turanic(not necesarily Turkish but somehow related to the Kipchaks and early Volga Bulgarians in my opinion).