The oldest “Briton” was dark-skinned and blue-eyed

Specialists have analyzed the DNA of the “man from Cheddar” – the oldest known science people who lived in the territory of modern Britain. The man was dark-skinned and blue-eyed, which brings him to other “Europeans” of that era.

Every year, scientists are increasingly learning about the appearance of the first inhabitants of modern Europe. According to earlier data, our ancestors, who came from Africa, had a swarthy skin. Penetrating into the northern regions, they adapted, acquiring the features typical of modern Europeans. Now experts have found the next evidence of the concept of the origin of man, almost universally accepted in the scientific world. The analysis of the DNA of the “man from Cheddar”, the oldest known “British” science, helped them in this.
The remains of man found in the cave of Gotha, discovered by Captain Richard Gough in 1890. They date approximately 7150 BC. e. The cave itself is located in the Cheddar Gorge in Somerset County. Scientists suggest that the death of “a man from Cheddar” was violent. A possible cause of this is the conflict with “neighbors”. According to some reports, the body was left in the cave of cannibals.
A new study, unequivocally, has become an important stage on the way to understanding the origins of the first Europeans. The decipherment of the complete genome of the “first Briton” made it possible to discover important features that related the “man from Cheddar” to the first inhabitants of Spain, Hungary and Luxembourg (their genomes were deciphered earlier). The person had “piercing blue eyes”, dark skin and curly hair. If we talk about many other features of the structure of the face, then they are also similar to those of other first inhabitants of Europe.



The skull of the “man from Cheddar” / © wikipedia



Gough’s Cave, where a Cheddar man was discovered / © wikipedia

All this, according to researchers, can say that the skin of Europeans has become light not so quickly, as previously thought. Undoubtedly, the appearance of modern Europeans has changed many times, having made a long evolutionary path.
Recall last year came important news for science, affecting another part of the world. The international group of researchers managed to reconstruct the appearance of Lady Kao, a noble representative of urine culture, who died about 1500 years ago. Danae culture existed in the I-VIII centuries in the north of Peru. Through 3D modeling, scientists created a copy of the face and body of Lady Kao. The project itself is designed to remind the residents of the republic about the rich cultural heritage of the region and to acquaint the broad public with it.