: Not that I think it matters, but I think they were black. If mankind originated in Africa, anything else seems impossible.Not necessarily, although most probably. The size of melanin crystals is inversely correlated with northern latitudes, since darker skin is a selective advantage in areas with high sunlight, but a disadvantage in areas with less solar radiation (where "rickets," a vitamin D deficiency, becomes a hazard). However, the one thing you can definitely say about humans is that we're pretty variable. As Nikhil has pointed out (citing L. L. Cavalli-Sforza) African populations today include roughly 95% of all human genetic variability.
All of this is really beside the point, however, because skin color is not the major determinant of "race" at all; culture is. For example, to "white" American eyes, Aboriginal Australians look similar to indigenous Africans, but genetically they are more closely related to southern Asians (that is, the most recent ancestor shared by Asians and Australians was more recent than the last common ancestor of Africans and Australians). In the U.S., both Australians and Africans are considered to be "Black," and are treated in accordance, but southern Asians are not, even though they are, ancestrally speaking, closer to Australians than the Africans are.
However, since Adam and Eve are symbolic characters, placed in the book of Genesis as a means of explaining a mythic and symbolic event in the origin of a society, rather than a literal, historical fact, this whole thread seems kind of silly. Adam and Eve were never intended to be interpreted as literal fact (otherwise their names wouldn't be what they are- "Adam" means "person" and "Eve" means "mother." They're not really "names" at all, eh?!) so trying to discover their genetic characteristics is about as sensible as trying to determine what color socks the Easter Bunny wears, IMHO.
-Floyd
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McSpotlight: As far as historical data is able to determine, the story of Adam and Eve is a later modification to the original Pentateuch - dating from around the time of Hezekiah.
None.
