White skin developed in Europe only as recently as 8,000yrs

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FRANCE: A new study has revealed that humans living in Europe had dark skin for the majority of the time they have inhabited the continent.
The study, presented at the 84th annual meeting of the American Association of Anthropologists (AAAS), suggests that many of the characteristics associated with European genetics are a recent development in the broader history of human evolution and migration. Led by Dr. Iain Mathieson from Harvard University, the international team of researchers analysed 83 human gene samples collected as part of the ‘1000 Genomes Project’ (an initiative designed to sequence the genomes of a large number of people and allow public access to the data for scientific research).
Focusing on two genes, SLC24A5 and SLC45A2, which are responsible for de-pigmentation and pale skin, the team studied samples taken from a wide range of ancient populations spread across different periods and different locations.
Home sapiens resided solely in Africa up until 700,000 BCE, with the first examples of Australopithecus afarensis, the precursor of Homo erectus, appearing there around 3.3 million years ago. Exactly when the ancestors of humans began their migration to other continents is open to debate, but the oldest human fossil ever found in Europe was discovered near Heidelberg in Germany, and dates back to 650,000 BCE.
The study confirms the existing presumption that the first modern humans migrating from Africa to Europe had dark skin, which would have been beneficial in the hot African climate. However, it also found that early hunter-gatherers in Spain, Luxembourg and Hungary lacked the genes responsible for pale skin as recently as 8500 years ago.