Researchers have uncovered the face of the first British modern who lived more than 10 thousand years, and is believed to be the oldest predecessor in Britain with dark skin and eyes blue and black curly hair.
A fully human fossil known as "Cheddar Man", was discovered in 1903, inside the cave of Gog in Cheddar Gorge Somerset.
The researchers conducted a comprehensive DNA analysis and discovered that Cheddar Mann genes still affect one in 10 Britons. The results of the study are a dramatic departure from the early reshaping phase, which portrayed early British males as light-skinned.
The researchers used modern techniques to extract DNA from old Cheddar bone fragments and collaborated with specialists to conduct a wide-ranging analysis. The resulting information was then passed on to Dutch artists Alfons and Adri Kneis, specialists in fossil modeling.
By combining scientific data with physical measurements, the artists were able to scan the skull to create the most accurate model of the oldest known ancestor in Britain.
"Skin color is interesting, but there is also a mix of features that prevent Cheddar from being like anyone we see today," said Professor Ian Barnes, research director at the Natural History Museum.
Cheddar Mann is thought to have died in his 20s and was following a good diet. Historians explained that his tribe was one of the first groups of humans to emigrate to Britain at the end of the last ice age.
Since then, the genetic composition of the population in Britain has varied considerably during that period.
