#dna analysis

The reconstructed face of the “Cheddar Man” (c. 7,000 BCE) compared to his living descendant, Adrian Targett    

The Cheddar Man is a Mesolithic skeleton that was recovered from England’s Cheddar Gorge in 1903. At around 9,000 years old, the Cheddar Man is the oldest complete skeleton ever discovered in the UK, and has long been hailed as the “first Briton.” DNA analysis on the Cheddar Man from 2018 indicated that he was lactose intolerant, had light-colored eyes, dark brown or black hair, and had a dark to black skin tone. Although the discovery of the Cheddar Man’s dark skin tone was surprising for both scientists and the public alike, it corresponds with recent research suggesting that genes linked to lighter skin only began to spread into Europe about 8,500 years ago - approximately 32,000 years later than what was previously believed.  

In addition to the development on his skin tone, the Cheddar Man surprised scientists in 1997 when DNA analysis revealed that he had a living descendant - a retired history teacher named Adrian Targett. Targett and the Cheddar Man share the same mtDNA, which is inherited through the mother. In other words, they share a common maternal ancestor. What is even more remarkable is that Targett lives in Cheddar, only a half mile away from where his 9,000-year-old ancestor was discovered.

Targett was not invited to the initial reveal of his ancestor’s new facial reconstruction, but he has since seen it and has commented on the family resemblance. “I do feel a bit more multicultural now,” he once joked in an interview “And I can definitely see that there is a family resemblance. That nose is similar to mine. And we have both got those blue eyes.”

"...the first cowboys lived in Mexico and the Caribbean, and most of them were Black. That’s the conclusion of a recent analysis of DNA from 400-year-old cow bones excavated on the island of Hispaniola and at sites in Mexico. The work, published in Scientific Reports, also provides evidence that African cattle made it to the Americas at least a century earlier than historians realized. The timing of these African imports—to the early 1600s—suggests the growth of cattle herds may have been connected to the slave trade, says study author Nicolas Delsol, an archaeozoologist at the Florida Museum of Natural History. “It changes the whole perspective on the mythical figure of the cowboy, which has been whitewashed over the 20th century.”

Basal Eurasians: the existence of Basal Eurasians is known only through recent DNA analysis which, in the twenty-first century, has come along in leaps and bounds to make possible this level of examination.

Thanks to cutting-edge facial reconstruction technology, a woman who lived in Greece more than 3,500 years ago has been digitally brought back to life.

Her face, once buried in a Mycenaean royal cemetery, has now been reconstructed in striking detail — and the result is both haunting and unexpectedly modern.

As reported by The Guardian, the digital reconstruction is based on a facial mold dating back to the 16th century BCE, from a burial site discovered in the legendary city of Mycenae — once the stronghold of King Agamemnon.

The woman was around 30 years old at the time of her burial in what is believed to have been a royal tomb. The site was first uncovered in the 1950s.

Dr. Emily Hauser, the historian who commissioned the digital reconstruction, described the result as “breathtaking.”

Speaking to The Observer, she remarked:

“It took my breath away. For the first time, we can see the face of a woman from a kingdom tied to figures like Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra — she could be imagined as their sister.”

The reconstruction was created using a clay mold crafted in the 1980s by researchers from the University of Manchester and brought to life through digital artistry by Juanjo Ortega G.

Dr. Hauser — whose upcoming book “Mythica: A New History of Homer’s World, Through the Women Written Out of It” publishes next week — highlighted how advancements in forensic anthropology, DNA analysis, carbon dating, and 3D printing have transformed our ability to reimagine the ancient world.

“For the first time, we can truly look the past in the eye,” she said.

What makes the discovery even more significant is what was found alongside the woman’s remains.

Among the grave goods were a gold-electrum mask and three swords — initially believed to belong to a man buried beside her, thought to be her husband.

But recent DNA analysis revealed that the two individuals were not spouses, but siblings. And the swords? They were likely hers.

“The traditional assumption is that when a woman is buried next to a man, she must be his wife,” Hauser explained.

“But DNA confirmed they were brother and sister. This woman was in that royal tomb because of who she was — not who she married.”

Her presence in such a prestigious burial, combined with the weapons found by her side, signals a radical shift in how historians view women’s roles in the Late Bronze Age.

New data shows that in some tombs from this period, “warrior kits” appear more frequently beside women than men, prompting scholars to rethink long-held assumptions about gender and warfare in the ancient world.

Analysis of her skeleton also revealed signs of arthritis in her spine and hands — likely from years of intensive textile work.

“It’s a reminder of the physical toll on women at the time,” Hauser noted, referencing Helen in The Iliad, who is famously described as weaving.

This extraordinary reconstruction does more than reveal a face — it reshapes our understanding of an entire era.

Through science and storytelling, the ancient world is speaking once again and the voice we hear now is, for once, a woman’s.

related to the mother-fucking

CHEDDAR MAN cool?!?!