3 ms·

[0] mentions the "Cheddar Man" from 10,000 years ago as having dark skin and blue eyes, whereas originally he was depicted as having light skin - and that was p

[0] mentions the "Cheddar Man" from 10,000 years ago as having dark skin and blue eyes, whereas originally he was depicted as having light skin - and that was probably just an assumption. I don't think there was as much awareness before that there was a time in Europe where people were dark skinned, and it didn't spread over night. The article from the post is talking about fossils from between 400,000 to 500,000 years ago, and uses the word ancient, but it's not something you can compare in timescale to say ancient Egypt, which may evoke images of the pyramids or something. Humans were drastically different and wildly more diverse. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/ancient-briton-had-dark-skin-and-light-eyes-dna-analysis-shows-180968097/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/ancient-briton-had...

Mikeb85 4y ago
And one of the scientists involved in that study says they don't know the skin colour... https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5453665/Was-Cheddar-man-white-all.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5453665/Was-...
- shagmin 4y ago
  The article says >While her computer model shows being black is his 'probable profile', DNA testing is not advanced enough to say for certain. >The model came up with 'black' or 'dark black' skin for Cheddar Man based on his DNA. >Some, particularly on the far-right, have questioned whether there was a political agenda behind the claims. So it seems like, yeah, they are not absolutely positive (and the tabloid article sensationalizes this point), but so far the science shows dark skin, and this ruffles the feathers of the far-right.
  - Mikeb85 4y ago
    The science doesn't show dark skin, it doesn't show any skin colour. Saying X might be true != X is true.
    - shagmin 4y ago
      According to the article you posted, X is probably true - the scientists' model shows it being true, "focused on 36 points of comparison in 16 genes" and compared to "genetic data taken from more than 1,400 people". That is science - developing a model, experiments, etc., whatever you can do and studying the results - a continuous process of refinement. Science is not a set of facts we know are absolutely, 100% true, but hopefully that's the end result. So I think it's fair to say the science shows so far, to the best of their knowledge, it's true. It could be wrong, but I think it's reasonable to depict the Cheddar Man as having dark skin if to the best of anyone's knowledge including scientists' models, he was dark skinned.

Mikeb85 4y ago

And one of the scientists involved in that study says they don't know the skin colour... https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5453665/Was-Cheddar-man-white-all.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5453665/Was-...

shagmin 4y ago
The article says >While her computer model shows being black is his 'probable profile', DNA testing is not advanced enough to say for certain. >The model came up with 'black' or 'dark black' skin for Cheddar Man based on his DNA. >Some, particularly on the far-right, have questioned whether there was a political agenda behind the claims. So it seems like, yeah, they are not absolutely positive (and the tabloid article sensationalizes this point), but so far the science shows dark skin, and this ruffles the feathers of the far-right.
- Mikeb85 4y ago
  The science doesn't show dark skin, it doesn't show any skin colour. Saying X might be true != X is true.
  - shagmin 4y ago
    According to the article you posted, X is probably true - the scientists' model shows it being true, "focused on 36 points of comparison in 16 genes" and compared to "genetic data taken from more than 1,400 people". That is science - developing a model, experiments, etc., whatever you can do and studying the results - a continuous process of refinement. Science is not a set of facts we know are absolutely, 100% true, but hopefully that's the end result. So I think it's fair to say the science shows so far, to the best of their knowledge, it's true. It could be wrong, but I think it's reasonable to depict the Cheddar Man as having dark skin if to the best of anyone's knowledge including scientists' models, he was dark skinned.