More than likely, you are familiar with forensic scientists. We see them on TV, often on detective shows and they are responsible for reconstructing various aspects of our life, including our faces and the faces of those who have died in order to solve a crime. When you see what they do on TV, it is impressive but it is not all reality. When you actually see what they do in real life, it is equally as impressive and sometimes they may even throw in a surprise or two.
That was certainly the case with one professional forensic artist who decided to reconstruct some faces of those who died. On its own, that isn’t all that unusual and the fact that he used computers to help is not unusual either. What Oscar Nilsson was able to do, however, is beyond amazing. He is a Swedish archaeologist and he reconstructs the faces of those who have died. He started back in 1996 and he works together with museums around the world to help restore the faces of those who died thousands of years ago. He says: “The human face is a motif that never ceases to fascinate me: the variation of the underlying structure as well as the variety in details seem endless. And all the faces I reconstruct are unique. They are all individuals”
1. Huarmey Queen
A tomb was discovered in 2012 in the northwest of Peru. It was a burial room relating to the Indian culture of Wari and the interesting thing about the tomb is that it was not looted. 58 noble women had their remains laid to rest inside of the tomb.
That included one woman, who was nicknamed Huarmey Queen. She was buried along with jewelry and various other luxuries, so it was obvious that she was an important person of the time.
Something else that was interesting is the fact that she seemed to have been a master weaver, and she was even buried with many weaving tools made of gold.
2. This young woman lived in the Stone Age over 5000 years ago
The girl reconstructed here was about 20 years old when she died and she had a baby on her chest. It may have been that she died during a difficult childbirth.
3. Estrid Sigfastsdotter
This influential and rich woman lived in Stockholm about 900 years ago. Some of the things that were found in her burial site tell the tale of her and her family.
She lived to be 80 years old, which was a long time during that era. Most of the people who lived had a life expectancy of around 35 years.
4. Adelasius Elbachus
This man from Switzerland lived about 1200 years ago and has been named Adelasius Elbachus by researchers. It seems as if he dealt with chronic infections and malnutrition but he did have healthy teeth, which is why they show him smiling.
5. Viking
This man was a Swedish Viking who lived about 900 years ago. Enough DNA was recovered to reconstruct the hair, skin and eyes. He died when he was around 45 years old.
6. Neanderthal woman
Some researchers believe this woman lived as long as 50,000 years ago. She was discovered during an excavation in Gibraltar in 1848.
The archaeologist said: “Finally a few words on something I thought of and struggled with, as I saw this Neanderthal face take shape. How “human” should this face appear? They were not Homo Sapiens after all. I came to the conclusion that she must have a human glimpse in her eyes. As recent research show, Europeans share around 2-4 % DNA with Neanderthals. So they must have been so much alike us, otherwise, the offspring would not have been fertile.
It is interesting to see how the image of the Neanderthals has changed over the years: from being a drooling savage to a highly-skilled competitor to us. Worth to note is also that this new image coincides with the insight that we Europeans share 2-4% DNA with the Neanderthals.”
7. Primitive Neolithic
This is the face of a 25-40-year-old slender man born about 5500 years ago.
8. He lived in Britain in the Saxon era
This man was around 45 years old when he died. It appears as if he was a very strong individual but he did lose a lot of his teeth and part of his upper jaw. It may have been the inflammatory process that caused his death.
9. A teenager from 9000 years ago
This 18-year-old girl is thought to have lived some 9,000 years ago.
10. Birger Jarl
This man ruled Sweden until he died in 1266 in Västergötland, Sweden
11. This man lived during the Iron Age in Britain
According to his bones, he lived 2400 years ago. He was strong, healthy and well built and he died at an early age of approximately 24-31 years.
12. Woman of Romano-British descent
This woman apparently lived a life of heavy physical labor and died at around the age of 30. Nails were found near her body, which may be due to various superstitions.
13. A medieval middle-aged man from middle Sweden
“Finally, the reconstruction of the medieval middle-aged man from the middle of Sweden is finished. Although now it turns out he may not be that medieval after all. C14-results indicates that he is from somewhere during the period of 1470-1630. However, analysis of his skeleton shows that he suffered from so-called os acromiale, a defect in the bones of the shoulder with a clear connection to heavy use of longbow-shooting! So, maybe it is possible to narrow the time span to 1470-1540, as longbows gradually fell out of fashion to use during the mid 16th century.” – says the archeologist.
14. He lived about 3700 years ago during the Bronze Age
This man apparently lived with malnutrition and iron-deficiency anemia before he died around the age of 30
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