Britain's Oldest-Known Skeleton Was Dark-Skinned And People Are So Here For The Reaction

*Plot twist*

Earlier today scientists at London's Natural History Museum revealed a reconstruction of one of Britain's earliest men, called Cheddar Man. Here he is:

Justin Tallis / AFP / Getty Images

Researchers from the museum extracted DNA from the 10,000-year-old skeleton – the oldest fully preserved skeleton in the UK – and passed it to scientists at University College London (UCL), who created a facial reconstruction.

Cheddar Man got his name after his skeleton was discovered in 1903 in a place called Gough's Cave, in Somerset's Cheddar Gorge. He's the first prehistoric Briton from the period to have his genome analyzed.

The results show that lighter skin associated with Europeans is a relatively new phenomenon, the BBC reported.

People were just *waiting* for the reaction...

Stan Collymore @StanCollymore

Watching the reactions to #cheddarman like.....

10:10 AM - 07 Feb 2018

Musa Wakanda @Okwonga

*Plot Twist* First modern Britons had 'dark to black' skin, Cheddar Man DNA analysis reveals https://t.co/QjKT5XbFYO

07:54 AM - 07 Feb 2018

İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي @iyad_elbaghdadi

Literally can't wait to see racists' heads explode over this. https://t.co/KndIR78LVW

09:49 AM - 07 Feb 2018

And it did not disappoint.

Kemi Olivia Alemoru @kemioliviax

You: "Keep Britain White" Cheddar Man: "Surprise bitches"

09:50 AM - 07 Feb 2018

Jessica Cregg @JessicaCregg

Quite frankly sick of all these white people coming over here and stealing our jobs https://t.co/zXDjJgIEUP

10:30 AM - 07 Feb 2018

'riro @tarirawr

them: you don't belong here - me:

11:02 AM - 07 Feb 2018

Stanners @cheesecakebase

White supremacists and the far right when they realise that the first Briton, the Cheddar Man had 'dark to black' s… https://t.co/ZngodvjnPQ

07:59 AM - 07 Feb 2018

TechnicallyRon @TechnicallyRon

BREAKING: A scientific reconstruction of stone age britons shows they had dark skin, and if you listen really caref… https://t.co/Ejqe2f6jr5

09:31 AM - 07 Feb 2018

There were questions raised about his name though...

Austin @AustinDarbo

Excellent😬 the black Renaissance continues. Not sure why they called him 'Cheddar Man' though. Some alternative n… https://t.co/ODIBbGVoBJ

11:00 AM - 07 Feb 2018

Obviously, Daily Mail readers found themselves in a bit of a pickle regarding the news.

Zing Tsjeng @misszing

I’m living for all the pressed as fuck MailOnline comments on this Cheddar Man story

09:45 AM - 07 Feb 2018

Natasha Akhtar @Natasha_Akhtar

Has anyone looked at the Daily Mail comments re the Cheddar Man story? #IPredictAMeltdown

08:03 AM - 07 Feb 2018

There were people saying that Cheddar Man, uh, proved immigration was out of control...

David Lammy @DavidLammy

I am so here for the comments on the @MailOnline story on Cheddar Man revealing that the oldest known Briton had da… https://t.co/Lsd9sHWCqL

12:59 PM - 07 Feb 2018

Oonagh @Okeating

Science: Tests on the remains of the earliest-known British skeleton show he had dark skin. UKIP: Immigration has b… https://t.co/QUTUPyVxPQ

07:51 AM - 07 Feb 2018

Undocumented immigrant @somegreybloke

That dark-skinned #Briton story is more complex than it appears at first glance. Sure the scientists have concluded… https://t.co/rZx4TSiWE1

11:34 AM - 07 Feb 2018

And some people pointed out that – when you look at the big picture – Cheddar Man shows how recent the whole ~concept~ of race is.

Angela Saini @AngelaDSaini

As someone writing a book about race and science, reactions to the #CheddarMan work are fascinating. We seem unable… https://t.co/NUK4RDSLpj

09:46 AM - 07 Feb 2018

Daniel Trilling @trillingual

“It really shows up that these imaginary racial categories that we have are really very modern constructions, or ve… https://t.co/LSPjq3tp87

07:09 AM - 07 Feb 2018