Hunter gatherer genome

(Image credit: CSIC)A 2014 study in Nature has shown that a 7,000-year-old Mesolithic hunter-gatherer found in Spain had dark skin and blue-eyes.

Accidental find

(Image credit: Jose Ignacio Soto | Shutterstock.com)In 2006, hikers accidentally discovered the remains, along with another skeleton, in the Cantabrian Moutnains of Northwest Spain.

Ancient burials

(Image credit: J.M. Vidal Encina)The remains of two males were found in a narrow, labyrinthine cave.

DNA extraction

(Image credit: J.M. Vidal Encina)Though one of the mens' skeletons was too degraded to analyze, the team sequenced the genome of the other one, whose skeleton is shown here.

Close relatives?

(Image credit: J.M. Vidal Encina)The team found the manwas genetically closer to Northern Europeans than to Southern Europeans and lacked the European mutation that confers lighter skin.

Teeth and skull

(Image credit: Alberto Tapia)Here, teeth and part of the skull from one of the fossils found in the cave.