 The light skin pigmentation characteristic of modern Europeans is estimated to have spread across Europe in a "selective sweep" during the
Mesolithic (19 to 11 ka).The associated TYRP1 SLC24A5 and SLC45A2 alleles emerge around 19 ka, still during the LGM, most likely in the Caucasus.A big cline in genetic variation that has long been recognised in Europe seems to show important dispersals from the direction of the Middle East.