evolution of human hair

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This may have more to do with the aging process than with survival. A long time ago we didn't really live long enough to have that as a major issue in survival or mate selection.

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Except that most men who loose hair start to do so when
quite young (20-30) ... while many older gents (my dad
included at 75) still have as thick a mop of hair as when they
were younger.

They key words were a LONG TIME AGO.Someone correct me if I am wrong, but the average lifespan (before tool use became common) was well under 30. That meant that most of life and reproduction was carried out before hair loss would become an issue for survival or mate selection.

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)

H.You ask, Which is why creationism is such an ugly lie. But, in our experience, creators often, usually, make things with a purpose, and we would hope that our Creator, if we have one, was not so whimsical as creationists might have us believe. Thus, in dealing with Jehovah as a Creator, done in science and truth, we ask and search out why He made what He made the way He made it. We see the world (hypothetically, at least) as meaningful in every detail, reflecting the richness of His mind and heart. Wonderfully complex, to be figured out in an infinite search to know God, by seeing wisdom, His wisdom, in His creation.Stephen

But, what study have you read that shows higher testosterone levels in certain ethnic backgrounds. Because there is definitely a difference between Asian/North American Native Americans facial/body hair and a Western European? Would one then say that testosterone levels are lower in the former?Is there serious difference between the amount of hair on an unshaved European woman and man? It is a serious question.

As far as I know straight vs. curly (and in between) is the amount of disulfide bonds in the protein.

Not sure what the evidence is for shorter lifespans,
but I apologise anyhow .... thought you were talking generally
rather than specific to the pre-tool folks.

Re: Testosterone and ethnicity:
I think you are right, there must be more to it than that,
but testosterone seems to play an imortant role.Re: Hairy European women:
Unshaved women tend to have hair in many places , but
few grow full beards, chest hair, back hair or belly hair
in the large quantities that a lot of European men do....or at least few that I have had any close dealings with ....

I was thinking of the celts, the picts, the goths, the visi-goths and the scottish clansmen. Although, thinking about it, the picts rubbed ash in their hair to spike it so they don't count. I'm also pretty certain that the vikings and the huns wore their hair lose.However, I've not really researched hair-styles through the ages - so my information could be wrong. I'd also suspect that hair is less of a problem once you've got sword/axes and shields anyway; so this could well be an irrelevance.

LOL, yeah, forgot the beard and chest...I was thinking in terms of equivalent growth areas, but you're right. I've seen the infrequent older woman who forgot her estrogen though .

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Not sure what the evidence is for shorter lifespans

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Now that you mention it, I've never actually tried to find out what data has been used to make the case that people died so young long long ago. But I do know that I've heard it said a lot in documentaries.Hmmmmmm... maybe a new topic, inquiring minds want to know!

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)

Celts, scottish clansmen, and picts, from what I am aware, wore some type of headcovering/headband. The Goths, vikings, and huns wore helmets whenever they were available. I believe the Vikings also braided their hair.I am willing to accept contrary evidence, but will agree that what you pointed out is part of my argument... once you have weapons and armor, hair length tends to be less of a factor.This is one reason I am wondering whether this difference in max hair length (between head and body hair) came after tool use, where sexual significance would play more of a role than survival.

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)

I've read that unwashed hair cleans itself, and
can be in much better condition than our trend for
constant washing .... never seen this corroborated though
and never been able to leave my hair unwashed long enough
to check it out.

Age of skeletons from graveyards. Age of death in recorded data. Lifespan in 'primitive' peoples still present in todays world.

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For sake of argument I'll just assume I have been living around the upper half of the bell curve on hair growth.

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Me two I know a few ladies whose hair has reached close to their
ankles, let alone knees. One in particular had never had her
hair cut -- ever (at age 17 and about 5'3") -- and had to have it tied or braided to stop it trailing on the floor. Another I knew
was similar -- hair very long.And since most people cut their hair I'd really like to see
some data to back up the report.

Graveyards and records from when?A walk through the graveyard of my parish church,
with gravestones dating back to the 1600's, shows
many people living into their 70's over the last three hundred
years.If we are talking extremely ancient human populations
we have no data to make an assessment. Fossils don't
help since they are few and far between.Even in historical times there are finds which cast doubt
on the lower life expectancy suggestion. Roman remains of
a whole group of elderly women for example, Sir Isaac Newton maybe.Also, if the graveyards are from times when there were known
plague, famine, war-torn conditions they may not be indicative
of earlier life-expectancies.Perhaps average life expectancy is not a good metric, since
it is the young who are more likely to expose themselves to
danger/risk so that avg life expect measures risk-exposure
rather than life-span?