Not at all surprising. We have modern day examples of those who migrated north beyond the Arctic Circle whose skin remains dark thousands of years later. Enter the Inuit people whose skin has remained a dark reddish hue even though they live in the far north where sunlight is limited and most of their lives are spent covered head to toe. They are one of the peoples who thwarted Felix Von Luschan's "Human Skin Colour Distribution" charts and foiled the Nina Jablonski and George Chaplin paper, though the latter study was close in its ideas.

So, from what we've discovered, Cheddar Man had to be brown. Pheomelanin causes reddish yellow pigments, and eumelanin gives deep brown coloring. But skin tone is not all genetic: more melanin is produced when you are out in the sun. Sunlight exposure causes the optic nerve to signal the pituitary glad to release more melanin and !BANG! -- you tan. So why are the Inuit people still so dark? They're not out in the sun, the sun isn't out all that much, and when it is it's low.

I read somewhere that it is thought early man, when we split off from the line on our way to becoming human, was covered in hair, but that over time the hair went away and exposed their fair skin to more and more equatorial sunlight. To defend against UV damage the melanin rose and everyone took on the dark brown tones we see today in those who hadn't left Africa until more recently. I think it is estimated that 500 years or more is needed in a new clime before any change in skin pigment begins to be noticed.

The kicker in this little journey is coming. As we moved northward, we received less UV radiation. UV is needed to help create vitamin D, but the darker pigment wouldn't let that happen as easily, so the melanin began to recede. Europeans have lighter skins largely because of the body's need for vitamin D. So, what the hell is it that kept the Inuit people's skins dark for so long? Surely they lacked the same vitamin, right?

Something I'm sure most of us have forgotten is coming. Vitamin D is not only produced through exposure to sunlight. Anybody remember taking cod liver oil when they were young? Another source for vitamin D is dietary. Same for the Inuit. Their vitamin D intake wasn’t dependent upon the sun. They got all that they needed from their diet, heavy on types of fatty fish that are naturally rich in vitamin D. The plentiful amounts of the vitamin kept them from developing less melanin. In fact, before milk was fortified with D, people living outside of Northern Canada and Alaska loaded their diets with fishy products, such as cod liver oil, to get their daily supplement. So despite their chilly climate and lack of sun exposure, it’s the Inuit diet that has kept them in their natural glow. Ever noticed that coastal inhabitants who live largely off the sea anywhere in the world tend to be darker in skin tone than their far inland neighbors.