Meet Cheddar Man, a 10,000-year-old man whose relative is alive today

Meet Cheddar Man, a 10,000-year-old man whose relative is alive today!

Cheddar man is a name given to an early Mesolithic human found in Gough's cave in Cheddar, England, in 1903. He is thought to have died a violent death in his 20s. DNA analysis suggests that this human likely had dark skin, blue eyes and black curly hair. It is likely that these early human ancestors originated in Africa and then moved to the Middle East before travelling to North Western Europe. England was connected to mainland Europe at this time, making travel by foot possible.

This incredible find suggests that some of the first people to settle in England had dark skin. White or pale skin is thought to have come later, as white skin absorbs more vitamin D, which we get from sunlight. The English climate is known to lack sunlight. Our changes in the diet probably influenced this change in skin colour, too, as farming introduced more foods to our diet, causing a change in vitamin and nutrition levels. Plant-based foods lack vitamin D, which probably causes our bodies to change to supplement this loss of nutrition.

Cheddar man was a hunter-gatherer. This meant that he hunted and gathered his food, as the basic farming concepts had yet to be invented. Human bones were discovered inside the cave that had been chewed on by other humans. Cheddar man was likely a cannibal, though this is thought to have been for religious purposes. This shows that humans had religious systems long before religions such as Christianity or Islam.

10% of people living today in Britain are related to these Mesolithic people. Incredibly, 20 locals were tested for their DNA, and a man named Adrian Targett, a retired history teacher was a match. He is the 300th generation of the family in the Cheddar man bloodline. Adrian's blue eyes and nose shape have been recognised as a Cheddar man with blue eyes and a similar nose shape.

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