Strange external features characterize the progenitor of all Britons who lived in their lands 10,000 years ago, France's press reports.

According to scientists, the prehistoric individuals who dwelt on the island were of very dark color, their hair was curly and the eyes blue. That is what the reconstruction of Cheddar Man has concluded, the skeleton was discovered in the cave of the same name in the southwestern part of England.

Just a few years ago, the reconstruction of his face looked quite different. Then he had black hair, but his skin was much whiter and his eyes brown. According to Chris Stringer, director of the research department of the London Natural History Museum, many would be surprised by the look of their ancestor.

"Many are surprised by the current appearance of Cheddar Man, who lived 10,000 years ago in our lands,  he was very dark and with very blue eyes!"

Recent discoveries have been made using two factors. The quality of the DNA material, which was very well preserved for such an ancient skeleton, and the advanced technique of reading the genome.

The genetic material was taken through an opening in the skull from which a small amount of bone dust was extracted. The skeleton itself has been found in a cave where the temperature has been kept at constant levels and the air has been cold and dry. This allowed the DNA to remain in such good condition.

Based on the latest data, Dutch specialists have reconstructed Cheddar Man's face in a three-dimensional version. He belonged to a group of hunters-gatherers coming from the Middle East and migrating to Northern Europe at the end of the last Ice Age. Nowadays, about 10 percent of the white British population carries the features of these ancestors.

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