Tavastid Phenotype - Face Features & Origin

Average Face

What you see below is a statistical construction of the Tavastid reference population. Faces recorded from the Tavastid sample were overlaid and merged; the result keeps the features most members shared and discards personal variation. It reads like a Tavastid portrait, but it works like a histogram.

Composite source: Human Phenotypes — Tavastid

Geographic Distribution

The reference center for Tavastid sits near 64.6° N, 29.1° E in Northern Europe. Around that anchor, prevalence falls off gradually — the type is not confined to one valley or one modern border, and the historical map should be read as a gradient rather than a boundary.

Physical Characteristics

Pale skin, straight, usually blonde hair, light eyes.

• Rather tall, mildly macroskelic, endomorph to mesomorph
• Brachycephalic, mildly hypsicranic, rather large-headed, but less than Borreby
• (Mildly) leptorrhine, concave snub-nose
• Moderately thin lips, weak, rounded chin, face relatively flat and squarish, forehead low
• Head and body larger, jaw wider, malars more prominent than in other East Europids

Historical Background

East Baltid variety, typical for the eastern shores of the Baltic sea, similar to Neo Danubian and Borreby. Named after the Tavastia province of Finland. Core population in Baltic countries, from Sweden to Finland and from Estonia to Germany and Romania. Occasionally all over Scandinavia, in Russia, and even Britain.

Research History & Naming

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

Virchow (1874) called it Tavast type, Lundman ( 1940 , 1946 , 1977 ) Tavastid, his western East Baltid subvariety. Synonymous with Coon's (1939) and Hooton's (1946) East Baltic, and part of Deniker's (1900) Subnordid. Part of East Europid ( Vondernach, 2008 ) / Baltid ( Biasutti, 1967 ). The Valdai type ( Tschepurkowski, 1911 ; Bunak, 1932 ; Drexel, 1955 ) is similar, but slightly more Nordid.

Comparison With Nearby Phenotypes

The five phenotypes whose documented centers lie closest to Tavastid, ranked by great-circle distance. They are the types players most often confuse with Tavastid in the quiz, precisely because their distributions overlap.

Tavastid in the Game

Tavastid is one of the faces that can appear in Classic Daily and Challenge Mode. When it does, the winning pin lands near 64.6° N, 29.1° E in Northern Europe — and because the scoring decays with distance, recognizing the region matters more than pixel-perfect placement.

Tavastid Phenotype FAQ

Where does the Tavastid phenotype come from?

The reference coordinates for the Tavastid phenotype sit near 64.6° N, 29.1° E, in Northern Europe. That point marks the center of the Northern Europe distribution documented roughly 1500 years ago — actual prevalence spread well beyond it, toward entries such as Fenno Nordid 214 km away, and modern migration has blurred those boundaries further.

What does the Tavastid phenotype look like?

In the historical literature, pale skin, straight, usually blonde hair, light eyes. For Tavastid these are statistical tendencies across a population, not a checklist every individual matches.

Is the Tavastid phenotype a race or a nationality?

No — and the Tavastid naming history above shows why. Tavastid 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 Tavastid label says nothing about where any individual's ancestors were born.

How does Tavastid appear in the game?

In Classic Daily and Challenge Mode, the Tavastid 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 64.6° N, 29.1° E. The post-round review then shows the correct location, your distance error, and this Tavastid entry.

References & Literature

The Tavastid phenotype entry above is compiled from the 12 academic references. Readers are encouraged to consult the original Tavastid sources for verification and deeper context.

• Virchow, R. 1874. Die physische Anthropologie der Finnen. Verh. Berliner Ges. Anthr. Ethnol. Urg. VI. 185-189.
• Lundman, B. 1940. Nordens rastyper : geografi och historia. Albert Bonnier. Stockholm.
• Lundman, B. 1946. Nutidens Människoraser. A-B. Lundequistka Bokhandeln. Uppsala.
• Lundman, B.J.. 1977. The Races And Peoples Of Europe. IAAEE. New York.
• Coon, C.S.. 1939.. The Races of Europe. The Macmillan Company. New York.
• Hooton, E.A. 1946. Up from the Ape. Rev. ed. Macmillan Company . New York.
• D00
• Vonderach, A. 2008. Anthropologie Europas. Völker, Typen und Gene vom Neandertaler bis zur Gegenwart. Ares Verlag. Graz.
• Biasutti, R. 1967 (1941). Le Razze e i Popoli della terra. 4th Ed. Vol 1-4. U.T.E.T., Torino.
• Tschepurkowski, E. 1911. Anthropologische Studien. Archiv für Anthropologie.
• Bunak, V. 1932. Neues Material zur Aussonderung anthropologischer Typen unter der Bevölkerung Osteuropas. Zeitschrift für Morphologie und Anthropologie, 30 (3). 441-503.
• Dart, R. 1955. Three Strandloper from the Kaokoveld Coast. S. Afr. J. Sci 51. 175-179.

Related Phenotypes

If Tavastid interested you, these neighboring phenotype entries cover adjacent parts of the map with distinctly different trait bundles.

• Fenno Nordid

  Northern Europe · 214 km away

  Ancient type of Northeastern Europe, sometimes placed in Nordid, sometimes East Baltid. Associated with Finno-Ugric people, once widespread ...

• Ladogan

  Eastern Europe · 433 km away

  Ancient, mostly Europid type of Northeastern Europe and Western Siberia associated with the ancient Kammkeramik culture. Probably played a r...

• Savolaxid

  Northern Europe · 437 km away

  East Baltid variety, named after the Savolaxia province of Finland, similar to Neo Danubian. Core population in Eastern Finland, Karelia, an...

• North Lappid

  Northern Europe · 631 km away

  Northern Lappid variety, somewhat closer to Sibirid, possibly due to Samoyedic influence. Associated with Eastern Saami (formerly "Lapps"), ...

• Aisto Nordid

  Northern Europe · 675 km away

  East Nordid subvariety, common in coastal regions of Baltic countries. One of the last strongholds of East Nordids that are only a minority ...

Further Reading

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

• Guess the Nationality: What 48 Country Average Faces Actually Show

  National average faces converge with geography - neighbors look alike because populations mix along the routes terrain allows.

• What Is an Ethnicity Guesser? The Map Game Where Faces Are the Clues

  Ethnicity guessers are the newest branch of geography gaming: a composite face appears, you pin the map. Here is the genre, where it...