This is the blog for GW students taking Human Evolutionary Genetics. This site is for posting interesting tidbits on: the patterns and processes of human genetic variation;human origins and migration; molecular adaptations to environment, lifestyle and disease; ancient and forensic DNA analyses; and genealogical reconstructions.

GWHEG figure

GWHEG figure

Saturday, February 10, 2018

Cheddar Man changes the way we think about our ancestors






Cheddar Man is the name attributed to the 10,000 years old remains of a young man recovered in Gough’s Cave in the Cheddar Gorge. The new study recently revealed that this young man would have had black hair, blue eyes, and dark skin. This study reveals the implications of how skin color can change over time, and underlines some unexpected features about the ancestry of the British people. The study of DNA shows there is a 10,000-year-old unbroken genetic lineage from people who inhabited Britain long before agriculture reached to British men and women of today. Cheddar Man was one of nomadic hunters who lived during the middle stone age. A geneticist, Mark Thomas states that the average person in Britain today carries around 10% of the genes of these ancient hunter-gatherers.

Sylvain Nyandwi

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