Guinesid Phenotype - Face Features & Origin

Average Face

The Guinesid composite below is not a photograph of a real person. Historical anthropologists aligned multiple individual portraits from the Guinesid reference population and averaged them into one image, so recurring structures — skull outline, nose form, lip thickness, brow position — dominate while individual idiosyncrasies cancel out.

Composite source: Human Phenotypes — Guinesid

Geographic Distribution

Geographically, Guinesid anchors to 2.0° N, 2.5° E (West Africa). That is the point where historical anthropologists judged Guinesid most concentrated, not a hard edge; modern migration and intermarriage have long since softened whatever boundaries once existed.

Physical Characteristics

Usually dark brown skin, sometimes light brown.

• Kinky hair
• Medium height, sometimes rather short, mesoskelic, mesomorph to endomorph
• Dolichocephalic, orthocranic or mildly hypsicranic
• (Hyper-)platyrrhine, depressed, often funnel-shaped nose
• Face is low, lips thick, but thinner than in Sudanids, legs shorter, body hair slightly stronger
• Prognathous

Historical Background

West African forest type native to the littoral of the Gulf of Guinea. Extends from Guinea all the way to Cameroon and sporadically even to Northwestern Angola. Typically found in Susu, Konyanke, Krou, Kuranko, Kissi, Guerzè, Kpelle, Yakoba, Temne, Bidyogo, Baule, Dida, Nago, Yoruba, also Ekoi, Kongo, Teke, and related people.

Research History & Naming

The passage below traces who first defined Guinesid, which rival names competed with it, and how later authors consolidated or disputed the classification — the raw material of any serious phenotype reference.

The Guinesid was defined by Eickstedt (1934) after Struck (1922) had studied the Guinea-dolichocephaly. Later used analogously by other authors ( Pales, 1953 ; Chabeuf, 1958 ; Biasutti, 1967 ; Vallois, 1971 ). Baker (1981) called it "Palaenegrid 2", Lundman (1967) included it in Hylaenegrid.

Comparison With Nearby Phenotypes

Geography, not alphabet, ordered this table: the five phenotype centers closest to Guinesid's, with the traits most likely to be mistaken for it (Sudano Guinesid leads at 779 km). In gameplay, these five account for most of the wrong-but-nearby pins against Guinesid.

Guinesid in the Game

In gameplay terms, Guinesid rewards region-level recall: the score is computed from the distance between your pin and 2.0° N, 2.5° E. Players often confuse Guinesid with Sudano Guinesid (779 km out) in the comparison table above — those confusions are exactly what the distance penalty is designed to expose.

Guinesid Phenotype FAQ

Where does the Guinesid phenotype come from?

The reference coordinates for the Guinesid phenotype sit near 2.0° N, 2.5° E, in West Africa. That point marks the center of the West Africa distribution documented roughly 1500 years ago — actual prevalence spread well beyond it, toward entries such as Sudano Guinesid 779 km away, and modern migration has blurred those boundaries further.

What does the Guinesid phenotype look like?

In the historical literature, usually dark brown skin, sometimes light brown. For Guinesid these are statistical tendencies across a population, not a checklist every individual matches.

Is the Guinesid phenotype a race or a nationality?

No — and the Guinesid naming history above shows why. Guinesid was defined, renamed, and regrouped repeatedly by different researchers, which is the opposite of how a fixed racial category would behave. A phenotype is a recurring bundle of visible traits recorded across a population; the Guinesid label says nothing about where any individual's ancestors were born.

How does Guinesid appear in the game?

In Classic Daily and Challenge Mode, the Guinesid composite face appears without a label. Your task is to drop a pin on the world map where you think that face is historically most common — the scoring uses the distance between your pin and the reference coordinates near 2.0° N, 2.5° E. The post-round review then shows the correct location, your distance error, and this Guinesid entry.

References & Literature

The Guinesid phenotype entry above is compiled from the 8 academic references. Readers are encouraged to consult the original Guinesid sources for verification and deeper context.

• Eickstedt, E. von. 1934. Rassenkunde und Rassengeschichte der Menschheit. Ferdinand Enke. Stuttgart.
• Struck, B. 1922. Versuch einer Karte des Kopfindex im mittleren Afrika in: Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, 54, 51-113.
• Pales, L. and T. de St-Péreuse. 1953. Raciologie comparative des populations de l'Afrique occidentale.Bull. et Mém. de la Société d'anthropologie de Paris X. 185-497.
• Chabeuf, M. 1959. Anthropologie physique du Moyen-Congo et du Gabon méridional. Bull- et Mém- de la Société d'anthr- de Paris. 10, 2, 97-185.
• Biasutti, R. 1967 (1941). Le Razze e i Popoli della terra. 4th Ed. Vol 1-4. U.T.E.T., Torino.
• Vallois, H. V. 1971. Las races humaines. 8 Ed. Grammont.
• Baker, J.R.. 1981. Race. Oxford Univ. Press. London.
• Lundman, B. 1967. Geographische Anthropologie. Rassen und Völker der Erde. G. Fischer, Stuttgart

Related Phenotypes

Other human phenotypes whose documented centers lie in the same part of the map as Guinesid.

• Sudano Guinesid

  West Africa · 779 km away

  Transitional type between Sudanid and Guinesid, common in West Africa. Although it is just a contact type, it is sometimes separated from th...

• West Congolesid

  West Africa · 967 km away

  African forest type, intermediate between Congolesid, Guinesid, and Sudanid, but with a variety of unique features. Common in Southern Camer...

• Guineo Camerunian

  West Africa · 1,114 km away

  West African type, the shorter-skulled counterpart of Guinesids. May constitute the transition to Congolesids. Common in forest regions of C...

• Sudanid (proper)

  West Africa · 1,212 km away

  Sudanid proper. Widespread savannah type named after the Sudan region of West Africa. Found in its purest form among Mossi, Lobi, Dagaaba, S...

• West Bambutid

  West Africa · 1,218 km away

  Type of the West African Pygmies, that split from East Bambutid during the late Paleolithic. Shows a strong rainforest adaption. Historicall...

Further Reading

Background articles from the blog that explain where the Guinesid type fits, how these composites are built, and what a face can and cannot tell you.

• What Nationality Do I Look Like? A Legal Status, Not a Face

  Nationality is a status that states assign and reassign. A face can resemble a documented regional pattern; it cannot resemble a...

• What Is My Ethnicity? Who Is Asking Changes the Answer

  What the phrase assumes is that ethnicity is one thing a person has. Four registers answer it instead: a census form, a family record, a...