“Mesolithic Man” Discovered with Dark Skin and Blue Eyes

Inside the La Brana-Arintero site in Spain, remains of a 5,000 year-old man nicknamed “La Brana 1” have been found to include some unusual genetic characteristics, according to Scientists at the CSIC (Spanish National Research Council) in partnership with with Denmark’s Centre for GeoGenetics.

Carles Lalueza-Fox, a researcher for the CSIC, indicated the hunter-gatherer lived during the Mesolithic period (5,000 to 10,000 years ago), before the development of agricultural farming, and that he had dark skin, blue eyes and was lactose-intolerant. The biggest surprise is that he had African versions of genes for skin pigmentation indicating he had dark skin, but also had a Northern European genome variation that produces blue eyes.

Today, the ancient man’s closest living relatives reside in Sweden or Finland.

The scientists said the preservation of the remains is exceptional due to the area in the mountains where the remains were found being located in a frigid, steady-temperature climate.

The science journal “Nature” published the research that was done by Manuel Vidal Encinas, archaeologist of the Council of Castilla y Leon. The La Brana-Arintero site was discovered in 2006 near the city of Leon, and was later excavated.

A second set of remains have now also been found that are not so well preserved. Researchers are now attempting to recover it’s genome as well.