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Britain's Second Wonder: The Home of Cheese and Cannibalism

 

Deep in the Mendip Hills near the village of Cheddar in Somerset England sits Cheddar Gorge. In 2005 on the show Seven Natural Wonders Cheddar Gorge was named the second greatest natural wonder in Britain. 500,000 visitors pass through the two open cave systems annually.

Our journey through the hills

The gorge was created by meltwater floods throughout the cold periglacial periods. Over 1.2 million years the caves saw the ice ages, in which the caves were blocked from permafrost. After as they warmed once again the water was forced to flow up to the surface, carving out the gorge. The water that went deeper created caves, leaving the gorge dry. The gorge only has one river now which is the Cheddar Yeo that is used by Bristol Water. 

The caves are prone to flooding

While the geological structure is something to marvel at the impressive cave system also is home to the oldest skeleton in Britain, the Cheddar Man. His remains date back to 9100 BP / 7100 BC. He is the oldest complete skeleton found in the UK. Regretfully the bones within the Gorge are a replica. The Cheddar Man is housed in the Natural History Museum, in the Human Evolution Gallery. 

The replica Cheddar Man in his original resting place

It was known since his initial discovery that he died a violent death. The large crater in the top right of his skull suggests that he was bludgeoned to death. However back in 2010 new breakthroughs in DNA testing and carbon dating came into play along with research on hunter gathering tribes. These tribes came from Spain and France with "extraordinary rapidity" 14,700. and settled in Gough's Cave within Cheddar Gorge. It is evident from the remains that they left behind that they were using sophisticated butchering techniques. These were not only used on animals but on human men, women and children. 

"These people were processing the flesh of humans with exactly the same expertise that they used to process the flesh of animals," said Professor Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum in London. "They stripped every bit of food they could get from those bones."

Caves that were used for the processing and curing of cheese became the perfect processing plant for the drying and curing of human meat. Yet after a time the caves went back to their routes and cheese was made once again, and still is to this day. 

Cheese being housed today

What creates further curiosity is that from the Nuclear DNA extracted from the Cheddar man in 2018 by the Natural History Museum, the genetic markers suggest that he was lactose intolerant. He also possessed dark wavy hair, green eyes and dark to dark-to-black skin. This race are known as the Western Europeans and form 10% of the ancestry of Britain's without a recent family history of immigration. They hailed from Spain, Hungary and Luxembourg. 

Channel 4/Plimsoll Productions photo by London Natural History Museum


Seeing this reconstruction of his face made in 2018 really changes your perspectives on the origins of man, race and where our DNA comes from. The flintstone-esque, knuckle dragging white man, is swapped out for this rather charming dark-skinned, soft eyed individual. The time we spent in Cheddar Gorge was wonderful and I am pleased that I was able to witness the gravesite of Britain's oldest skeleton. Who knew such a tragic death would allow us to learn so much about our past and origins. A wonder indeed!

Channel 4/Plimsoll Productions photo by London Natural History Museum





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