Tonkinesid Phenotype - Face Features & Origin

Average Face

The Tonkinesid composite below is not a photograph of a real person. Historical anthropologists aligned multiple individual portraits from the Tonkinesid 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 — Tonkinesid

Geographic Distribution

Geographically, Tonkinesid anchors to 20.5° N, 106.6° E (Southeast Asia). That is the point where historical anthropologists judged Tonkinesid most concentrated, not a hard edge; modern migration and intermarriage have long since softened whatever boundaries once existed.

Physical Characteristics

Yellowish light brown skin with coarse straight to slightly wavy hair.

• Short, macroskelic, endomorph to ectomorph
• Brachycephalic, hypsicranic
• Short, mesorrhine or mildly platyrrhine, round-tipped, low-rooted nose
• The face is round with coarse features
• Cheekbones protruding and angular
• Mouth large, lips thick, chin low, forehead steep
• Eyes slanting, sometimes with epicanthic folds
• Body hair scant

Historical Background

South Sinid subvariety, typical for the plains of the Red River in Northern Vietnam. Named after the old Tonkin protectorate / Ðông Kinh region. Developed through continuous Sinid expansions to the South and assimilation of indigenous Shanid elements. Most common in Northern Vietnam, but sporadically also appears in Southern Vietnam and parts of Indochina as well as Southern China.

Research History & Naming

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

Named and defined as a South Sinid variety by Eickstedt ( 1938-1940 , 1944 ) during his expeditions in Asia. Biasutti (1967) , Vogel (1974) already place it closer to South / Paleo Mongoloid. Anthropometric analysis by Olivier (1967) .

Comparison With Nearby Phenotypes

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

Tonkinesid in the Game

Tonkinesid is one of the faces that can appear in Classic Daily and Challenge Mode. When it does, the winning pin lands near 20.5° N, 106.6° E in Southeast Asia — and because the scoring decays with distance, recognizing the region matters more than pixel-perfect placement.

Tonkinesid Phenotype FAQ

Where does the Tonkinesid phenotype come from?

The reference coordinates for the Tonkinesid phenotype sit near 20.5° N, 106.6° E, in Southeast Asia. That point marks the center of the Southeast Asia distribution documented roughly 1500 years ago — actual prevalence spread well beyond it, toward entries such as South Palaungid 339 km away, and modern migration has blurred those boundaries further.

What does the Tonkinesid phenotype look like?

In the historical literature, yellowish light brown skin with coarse straight to slightly wavy hair. For Tonkinesid these are statistical tendencies across a population, not a checklist every individual matches.

Is the Tonkinesid phenotype a race or a nationality?

No. Phenotypes like Tonkinesid are descriptive averages, not ancestry groups. Tonkinesid is one of several types documented in and around Southeast Asia — see the comparison table above — and the same individual can carry traits associated with several of them at once. The Tonkinesid entry describes a statistical pattern, not a group of people and not a nationality.

How does Tonkinesid appear in the game?

In Classic Daily and Challenge Mode, the Tonkinesid 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 20.5° N, 106.6° E. The post-round review then shows the correct location, your distance error, and this Tonkinesid entry.

References & Literature

The Tonkinesid phenotype entry above is compiled from the 5 academic references. Readers are encouraged to consult the original Tonkinesid sources for verification and deeper context.

• Eickstedt, E. von 1938-1940. Forschungen in Süd- und Ostasien. In: Zeitschrift für Rassenkunde 8, 10, 11.
• Eickstedt, E. von. 1944. Rassendynamik von Ostasien. Walter de Gruyter. Berlin.
• Biasutti, R. 1967 (1941). Le Razze e i Popoli della terra. 4th Ed. Vol 1-4. U.T.E.T., Torino.
• B74
• Olivier, G. 1967. Contribution à l'anthropologie des Vietnamiens méridionaux. Bull. Mém. Soc. anthr. de Paris, 12 (1), 155-176.

Related Phenotypes

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

• South Palaungid

  Southeast Asia · 339 km away

  Southern Palaungid variety, weakly influenced by Veddid. Typical for the hill tribes of Thailand, Laos, and parts of Vietnam. Occasionally i...

• Annamid

  Southeast Asia · 460 km away

  South Sinid subvariety with less pronounced Sinid features that often tend to be very gracile. Typical for the old province of Annam in Viet...

• East Palaungid

  Southeast Asia · 687 km away

  Eastern Palaungid variety, found in the hills of South China. Shows stronger Sinoid tendencies. Common along the China-Myanmar /-Vietnam bor...

• East Shanid

  Southeast Asia · 726 km away

  Eastern variety of Shanid, weakly influenced by Veddid. Typical for the plains and river valleys of Indochina, especially from North Thailan...

• Chukiangid

  East Asia · 739 km away

  South Sinid proper subvariety, named after the Chu Khang (Xi) river in South China. Developed in the fishing and gatherer populations of sou...

Further Reading

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

• Ethnicity Guesser Game: How the Answer Space Shapes a Round

  A face-mapping game scores an answer three ways: a point on the map, a named catalogue entry, or a modern country.

• Ethnicity Guesser AI: Two Model Families, Two Kinds of Error

  Tools sold under the same name behave nothing alike. One prints a label from a fixed list; the other writes a sentence.