The picture of Mesolithic Britain is becoming more detailed — not just the single snapshot provided by Cheddar Man, but a growing collection of data points from different sites and different time periods that together reveal the genetic diversity and population structure of Mesolithic Britons.

The question of exactly how the WHG population in Britain related to WHG populations on the continent — whether there was significant gene flow between island Britain and mainland Europe during the Mesolithic, or whether the rising seas that separated Britain from the continent after roughly 8,000 years ago produced significant genetic isolation — is one that more specimens and better data will help address.

The transition from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic in Britain — the replacement of the WHG population by incoming Anatolian Neolithic farmers — is another area of active investigation.

The timing, the pace, and the specific mechanisms of this transition are being illuminated by ancient DNA from sites spanning the key transition period.