Scientists were stunned to find that a man who lived 10,000 years ago in Britain actually had dark skin instead of the light complexion they were expection. Known as “Cheddar Man,” the skeleton was discovered more than a century ago in a cave near the village of Cheddar, and has been a subject of fascination ever since.

Scientists had always assumed the man had light skin, but thanks to technological advances they were able to recreate his face and found that actually, he was very dark-skinned. Scientists from the Natural History Museum and University College London recreated the face using an analysis of his genetics.

They were able to get DNA from bone powder that was in his skull. The genetic material was very well preserved, allowing the team to sequence the genome of Cheddar Man and create a realistic version of his face, which will be described in the upcoming documentary, “First Brit.”

“The face of ‘Cheddar Man’, Britain’s oldest nearly complete skeleton at 10,000 years old, is revealed for the first time and with unprecedented accuracy by UCL and Natural History Museum researchers,” reads the statement from the University College London. “The results indicate that Cheddar Man had blue eyes, dark coloured curly hair and ‘dark to black’ skin pigmentation. Previously, many had assumed that he had reduced skin pigmentation. The discovery suggests that the lighter pigmentation now considered to be a defining feature of northern Europe is a far more recent phenomenon.”