Brits Had Dark Skin

The oldest complete skeleton found in Britain is the Cheddar Man that was discovered in 1903 and is 10,000 years old. The newest DNA analysis of the Cheddar Man revealed that first modern Britons had ‘dark to black’ skin and blue eyes.

The Cheddar Man’s ancestors left Africa about 40,000 years ago, when much of Britain was iced over. When the ice retreated 10,000 years ago, people colonised Britain. They were able to walk to Britain because it was still connected to the rest of the continent.

Scientists found this surprising and really interesting that the people’s skin remained dark for so long. Two Dutch artists created a model of how these people probably looked like.