The first Britons
Dark - skinned and light - eyed: what the "first man" in Britain looked like
Anastasia Barinova, National Geographic Russia
Human remains found in the British Gough Cave are considered the oldest in the country. Recent research has revealed that the first person in Britain was blue-eyed and dark-skinned.
In 1903, the remains of an ancient man were discovered in one of the caves of the Cheddar Gorge (English county of Somerset). They date back to 7150 BC and are the oldest fully preserved skeleton found in Britain.
The remains are kept in the London Museum of Natural History, and their study continues to this day. It is believed that the Cheddar man (Eng. Cheddar Man) died a violent death (according to one version, at the hands of cannibals) at the age of about 20 years. His height was 166 cm . Comparison of his DNA with the DNA of modern Europeans has led some scientists to conclude that the Cheddar man was one of the pioneers in the British Isles. Presumably, the hunter-gatherer tribe migrated here after the end of the ice Age.
This version has been repeatedly questioned, including due to the inaccuracy of the analysis. According to scientists (Cheddar Man: Mesolithic Britain's blue-eyed boy), it is rare to extract a complete chain from remains several millennia old. To do this, DNA must be protected by dense layers of bone tissue, otherwise it is easily destroyed. Past analyses were based on DNA from molars, which left a large margin of error.
The new study was conducted by experts from The Museum of Natural History and University College London. They managed to sequence the nuclear genome by drilling a hole in the skull and taking DNA from the bone tissue. As a result, it turned out that the Cheddar man had light eyes, dark hair and skin.
This conclusion was unexpected. As experts explain, light skin absorbs ultraviolet radiation better, allowing the body to make up for the lack of vitamin D. Previously, it was believed that ancient people, having migrated to Europe from Africa, adapted faster to a limited amount of sunlight — about 45 thousand years ago. Nevertheless, the "first Briton" first brightened his eyes, while the genetic markers of his skin still remained identical to those found in the inhabitants of Africa.
A full-scale study also revealed that the Cheddar man suffered from lactose intolerance. This digestive disorder, common in our days, was also characteristic of ancient people. Like his fellow tribesmen, the young man ate deer meat, bison, freshwater fish, nuts and fruits.
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