The researchers involved in the project were clear that their goal was scientific understanding, not political intervention.

They emphasized that the finding was not about contemporary politics but about the genuine characteristics of a real person who lived ten thousand years ago.

They also acknowledged that the finding was striking and that its implications for popular assumptions were real.

Bio-archaeologist Tom Booth’s response to the finding was characteristic of the researchers’ approach: Cheddar Man was one person, but he was “also indicative of the population of Europe at the time.

They had dark skin and most of them had pale coloured eyes, either blue or green, and dark brown hair.”