*Category:* Ancient DNA / Appearance Revelation
*Thumbnail hook:* He was buried in a Somerset cave for 10,000 years. DNA predicted he had dark skin and blue eyes — and that changed everything we thought about ancient Britain.
*Tracking ID:* BM-CANDIDATE-055
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## Source Notes
**Sources accessed and primary content extracted:**
– **NHM Cheddar Man FAQ** (https://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/our-work/origins-evolution-and-futures/human-adaptation-diet-disease/cheddar-man-faq.html) — Fully read. Key facts: forensic tool for skin prediction (Walsh et al. 2017), two most darkly pigmented of five categories, lighter categories ruled out, radiocarbon dates twice confirmed ~10,000 years ago, U5b1 mitochondrial haplogroup, ~10% of modern British ancestry from western Mesolithic hunter-gatherers (whole population, not Cheddar Man specifically), two subsequent migration waves brought lighter skin variants, forthcoming paper incorporated into broader “Population Replacement in Early Neolithic Britain.”
– **Earth Magazine** (https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/new-look-cheddar-man/) — Fully read. Key facts: petrous bone sampling, shotgun sequencing to nearly complete genome, 76% chance of notably dark complexion, blue eyes high likelihood, 1998 Manchester reconstruction described. Tom Booth on pale skin and vitamin D. BioRxiv preprint status noted.
– **Al Jazeera** (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/2/7/scientists-say-earliest-britons-had-dark-skin) — Fully read. Key facts: skin described as “dark to black,” blue eyes, dark curly hair. Chris Stringer quote on oldest British genome. Ancestors from Middle East then Europe. 10% ancestry. Channel 4 documentary February 18.
– **WRAL** (https://www.wral.com/cheddar-man-britain-s-oldest-skeleton-had-dark-skin-dna-shows/17320740/) — Fully read. Key facts: Chris Stringer, Yoan Diekmann named. Western hunter-gatherers migrated to Europe ~14,000 years ago. DNA showed dark skin, brown curly hair, blue eyes. Oldest British genome. Diekmann quote on open questions about when/why Europeans became light-skinned.