Cheddar Man: Did the First Briton have dark skin

Guardian.com: photographed by Channel 4

How long have dark skin people been part of British society? Well, at least 10,000 years. In the English town of Cheddar Gorge, Somerset, the remains of the oldest British skeleton were found. In 1903, after draining the Gough’s Cave, the skeleton of whom is now known as Cheddar Man was revealed and following examination the skeleton is believed to have had dark skin, resembling that of the sub-Saharan population. He is the oldest most complete skeleton found in Britain and has DNA available to give historians a better understanding of ancient Britain.

Cheddar Man is thought to be part of the Mesolithic population during the Middle Stone Age approximately 10,000 years ago – a fully modern human. Archaeologists and scientists have identified him as a dark skin man, with dark hair and blue eyes; around 5ft 5 in height and 10 stones in weight. His occupation is likely to have been a hunter gatherer, hunting mainly game and large cattle whilst gathering seeds and nuts. Not only did Cheddar Man possess unexpected features of ancient Britons, unusually for his era, but his remains were also found alone. He believed to have died in his 20s, his skeleton found with the feet curled up underneath the body. This isolated burial location may be a result of high societal status or Gough’s Cave being where he died. Nevertheless, most burials of this time were in caves, 50 individuals were deposited between 100-200 years in a nearby cave, Aveline’s Hole, one of the biggest Mesolithic cemeteries in Britain.

Other Western European Mesolithic hunter gatherers have been found across the region, with the populations remains discovered in Spain, Luxembourg and Hungary. Thus, some characteristics and behaviours are already known of the population, for example, many were lactose intolerant. Likewise, studies of Cheddar Man confirm that as an adult he was unable to digest milk. Though their origins are not clear, many of the dark skin Mesolithic hunter gatherers found across Europe are thought to have migrated from the Near East.

Since the Middle Stone Age, the landscape of Britain has changed from mostly forest. During this era, Britain was part of mainland Europe linked by what now is the Channel and Southern North Sea. This connecting land was called Doggerland. Easy migration routes encouraged Mesolithic people who followed animals across the continent to Britain. As Doggerland's glaciers melted around 8000 years ago, those hunting in Britain were left isolated.

Map from The National History Museum

We know that Cheddar Man had dark skin as a result of the ancient DNA Museum scientists were able to extract from his remains. The cool conditions of Gough’s Cave and the sediments deposited on the skeleton helped preserve his DNA. It is believed that the later introduction of farmers brought paler skin into Britain. These farmers lacked in vitamin D and had relatively poor diets compared to hunter gatherers who consumed a lot of fish and liver as well as high vitamin D. For example, Cheddar Man was found to have very healthy teeth, suggesting a good diet.

Cheddar Man’s dark skin colour is consistent with Mesolithic human remains found across Europe. Evidence founded through Cheddar Man supports the belief that lighter skin is relatively recent to Europe. Also, his dark skin combined with his blue eyes defies popular belief that the two genetic traits do not go together. Although since his death there have been two large scale population replacements for Cheddar Man’s population, modern Britons share 10% of their genetic ancestry with those of Cheddar Man’s era – meaning the average person in Britain carries approximately 10% of the hunter-gatherer’s genes of the society that Cheddar Man belonged to. Thus, this lineage has not been broken for 10,000 years.

The discovery of Cheddar Man and his identity is a piece of the puzzle of Britain’s diverse history, particularly in ancient times. It is imperative for modern Britain to not only acknowledge but implement accurate accounts of the diverse presence in its history. The extent to which ancient travellers wandered should no longer be undermined.