What did Stone Age people look like Every

What did Stone Age people look like?

Every year developing scientific methods help us to discover new facts about the past and change our ideas. Cheddar Gorge Man is a very good example of this. First discovered in 1903, his is the oldest complete human skeleton in the British Isles.

When he was found, the scientific techniques were not so advanced as now. For years it has been assumed that people in the Early and Middle Stone Ages were white.

Cheddar Gorge in Somerset

His skeleton was discovered in Gough’s cave (from https: //www. cheddargorge. co. uk/explorer/goughs-cave)

Breaking news! In February 2018 an exciting news story was released. Scientists had used DNA from the skeleton of Cheddar Gorge Man and managed to do a facial reconstruction of him.

They discovered he had black skin and blue eyes.

• Retired history teacher Adrian Targett has been discovered to share DNA with the skeleton found in 1903 known as Cheddar man. • Cheddar Man is believed to be the nation's oldest Briton who lived in 7, 150 BC. • Mr Targett believes he resembles his ancient ancestor. Can you see the likeness?

• From the evidence, scientists think that people in this country didn’t have white skin till the onset of the Neolithic farmers. • Can you think why there would have been a change in skin colour from the hunter gatherers to the farmers? • Unless more evidence comes forward, the latest theory is… DIET

Mesolithic people ate a very rich and varied diet full of Vitamin D. Meat from lots of different animals and birds, fish, sea food, nuts, berries , roots, leaves, herbs.

Neolithic farmers diet was not so rich in Vitamin D. They ate only a few domesticated animals and mainly food they could grow, such as wheat, peas and barley. If they lived near a river they would have caught fish.

So some archaeologists think that their skin had to become lighter, so that it could absorb more Vitamin D from the sunshine. Some archaeologists state that it is because the Neolithic farmers came from a different group in Europe who had a lighter skin colour. (In 2018 more evidence came forward to state that the first Neolithic farmers were olive skinned, like present day Mediterranean inhabitants. Then after a couple of thousand years they were replaced by the lighter skinned Beaker people who came from the more northern parts of Europe. )