In the Second Age, Númenóreans settled on the plains and the aboriginal Daen either withdrew to the mountain valleys or were assimilated. The ethnic mixing created the, common people, shorter and somewhat stockier than the Dúnedain, yet higher and more often bright-eyed than pureblooded Daen. However, the sophisticated Númenórean culture had been victorious even without this mixing wiping out almost all traces of Daen traits. In the Ered Nimrais valleys, the influence of the old Daen culture was still stronger. While the pure-blooded Orodbedhrim lived above the timberlinein primitive clans, their relatives in the lower valleys had adapted mostly to Númenórean culture and customs, though they still differed in looks from the average commoner, being shorter and stockier and almost invariably