Martin scale

The Martin scale is an older version of color scale commonly used in physical anthropology to establish more or less precisely the eye color of an individual. It was created by the anthropologist Rudolf Martin in the first half of the 20th century. Later he improved this scale with cooperation of Bruno K. Schultz, leading to the Martin-Schultz scale.

Original scale

The original Martin scale, summarized below, consists of 16 colors (from light blue to dark brown-black) that correspond to the different eye colors observed in nature due to the amount of melanin in the iris. The numbering is reversed in order to match the Martin–Schultz scale, which is still used in biological anthropology. In this case, the higher the number, the lighter the eye color.^[1]

Light and light-mixed eyes (16-9)

16: light-blue iris
15-14-13: blue iris
12-11: light-gray iris
10-9: dark-gray iris

Mixed eyes (8-7)

8: green iris
7: green-brown iris

Dark-mixed eyes (6-5)

6: hazel iris
5: light-brown iris

Dark eyes (4-1)

4: brown iris
3-2: dark-brown iris
1: black-brown iris

Older versions

Older versions of the Martin scale eye color chart have the following color divisions:^[2]^[3]

16-12: light and light-mixed iris
11-7: mixed iris
6-5: dark-mixed iris
4-1: dark iris

Notes

^ Malinowski A., Bożiłow B., Podstawy antropometrii. Metody, techniki, normy, 1997
^ Coon C. S., The races of Europe, 1939
^ Piquet, Marie-Magdeleine (15 October 1968). "Contribution à l'anthropologie des Corses : Anthropologie de la tête (suite) - Persée". Persee.fr. 3 (3): 183–218. doi:10.3406/bmsap.1968.1417. Retrieved 15 October 2015.

[1] Malinowski A., Bożiłow B., Podstawy antropometrii. Metody, techniki, normy, 1997

[2] Coon C. S., The races of Europe, 1939

[3] Piquet, Marie-Magdeleine (15 October 1968). "Contribution à l'anthropologie des Corses : Anthropologie de la tête (suite) - Persée". Persee.fr. 3 (3): 183–218. doi:10.3406/bmsap.1968.1417. Retrieved 15 October 2015.

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