Sidestep: The Redheads

Rather than focus on redheaded Maori descendants living now, I've gone back to the 1800's where collections of heads, many 200 years old were in various museum and private collections around the world.

In talking to a gentleman we know he said someone at a major museum had told him the red hair of various Mokomokai (preserved Maoir heads) was the same reason many Egyptian mummies had red hair - the result of a particular type of melanin responsible for dark pigments oxidizing faster than the type of melanin responsible for red hair. In asking does that mean all Maori heads would have red hair his answer was no necessarily as atmospheric conditions alter the speed of oxidization which will be less in dry conditions and more in damp conditions.

There is more to learn on this as to what is true and what is a red-herring (pun intended).

Here are a collection of various heads, the red first and then the black, is there yachting in between? I can't see any progressive change can you?

So, with the sight exception of two brown haired Mokomokai, they are distinctly different and this collection is a fraction of what is in storage elsewhere.