Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with information on fascinating discoveries, scientific advances and much more..
CNN
—
As visitors explore the recently opened Perth Museum and Art Gallery in Scotland, they come face to face with the past.
Realistic digital facial reconstructions of people who lived in the Perth and Kinross region of Scotland centuries ago flash and change expressions as museum visitors pass by.
The reconstructions, which combine art, anthropology, technology and archaeology, are on permanent display at the museum, which opened March 30.
The reconstructions are based on skulls found across Scotland, including those of a Bronze Age woman who lived around 4,000 years ago, an Iron Age man dating back to the 500 AD and of men and women who lived during Scotland’s medieval period in the 14th and 15th centuries, such as a young man who was the victim of a murder.
Perth Museum, Perth and Kinross Culture/Chris Rynn
Skulls have been used to digitally reconstruct the faces of an Iron Age man (left), a Bronze Age woman and a young man who was a murder victim from the medieval period .
The museum collaborated with Dr Chris Rynn, craniofacial anthropologist and forensic pathologist, as well as researchers from the University of Aberdeen to study the ancient remains and bring them back to life in a unique way that can connect visitors more deeply locals with their heritage, said Mark Hall, collections manager at the Perth Museum and Art Gallery.
Visitors can see each step of the facial reconstruction process, from viewing the skulls on display to using accessible screens showing how anthropologists reassemble the skulls, create digital models, and arrive at the final product.
Museum visitors will be able to digitally create the facial models themselves and see the results, even having the option to change hair and eye color for certain recreations.
“I worked with the Perth Museum on seven skulls,” Rynn said, “doing forensic facial reconstructions of each one to turn them into these interactive touch screens. exhibits so that museum visitors can follow the entire process of estimating and sculpting a face.
The museum’s collections are intended to tell the story of Perth’s people over the past 10,000 years, Hall said.
“As part of our approach to humanizing this history, we recreated faces from the past using evidence from human skulls and applying techniques from what is called forensic anthropology,” Hall said. “What we can learn about a particular place by studying people is how they interacted with each other, what kind of relationships they had, what kind of lives they led, how connected they were with the rest of the world. And archeology and anthropology uncover a lot of evidence that tells us about these things.
Discover Scotland’s past
She lived between 3,000 and 4,000 years ago, but a Bronze Age woman, with her facial reconstruction, looks like someone who wouldn’t look out of place in modern society.
“I think seeing faces from hundreds or thousands of years ago can teach us how little people have changed over that time,” Rynn said.
Her remains were originally found after a tractor pierced a burial chamber beneath Lochlands Farm in Perthshire in 1962. Her body was discovered in a crouching position and the lower left side of the facial bones had been cleanly cut away .
“Excavators speculated that a desperate wound had been inflicted that could have caused the individual’s death,” according to information shared by the museum.
Recent research into the remains, including DNA and dental analysis, revealed the woman was in her 30s when she died. Her bones showed joint degeneration in her lower back, suggesting she was suffering from back pain.
A depression was also found on the right frontal bone of his skull, likely caused by blunt force. Since the injury did not penetrate the inner skull, researchers believe that the injury just before her death was accidental and that she may have hit her head on something hard.
Another skull belonging to an Iron Age man, probably aged around 40 at the time of his death, was discovered during construction work in the early 1980s in Perthshire. Its remains date back to the 6th century and scientists believe it was Pictish, an ancient group that originated in Scotland. Analysis of his bones revealed that he spent his childhood on the west coast of Scotland and later did harsh agricultural work, eating pork, wild fowl and freshwater fish .
He moved to Perthshire late in life and his grave was sealed with a Quern stone, used for grinding grain by hand.
During the construction of a concert hall in the early 2000s, adjacent to the Perth Museum and Art Gallery, archaeologists unearthed the complete skeleton of a young man who died between the ages of 18 and 25 at the end of the 14th century.
The skeleton was found buried in a shallow grave beneath the foundations of old apartment buildings. Although the depressions in his skull likely came from a rushed burial, new research suggests he died a violent death and was likely the victim of murder.
He suffered two blunt force injuries to two ribs as well as multiple rib fractures, likely due to significant forces placed on his chest during a confrontation. An analysis of his bones revealed no chronic illnesses, but researchers noted that he experienced several disruptions in his growth during his childhood that could have been due to illness or malnutrition.
Two silver coins were found with his skeleton, dating from 1279 to 1322 and 1367 to 1371.
Rynn made physical and digital models during his reconstruction work after studying the shape of each skull, which helped him determine and estimate the shape of each face.
Perth Museum, Perth and Kinross Culture/Chris Rynn
Dr. Chris Rynn, a craniofacial anthropologist and forensic artist, used digital scans of the skulls during the facial reconstruction process.
It took approximately 50 hours to reconstruct each skull. For each skull, a 3D scan was carried out.
The digital scans allowed Rynn to fill in any gaps or missing pieces of the skulls by mirroring what was on the other side. Dental models also allowed him to reconstruct part of the Bronze Age woman’s missing jaw. After digitally reconstructing each skull, Rynn added layers of tissue, estimating tissue depth by studying the shape of each skull.
“For me personally, as I’m sculpting them and working on the faces, I feel like I’m meeting someone and I’m getting to the end of the sculpt,” Rynn said.
Then he sculpted the facial muscles in white wax, 3D scanned them, and digitized them to reassemble the faces. At the end of her reconstructions, Rynn used an algorithm to animate the faces, allowing them to blink or change expressions.
“Finally, you have to kind of bring them to life,” Rynn said. “So what I do is turn this 3D model into a photorealistic portrait, and then use an algorithm to blink the portrait that I made and look around a little bit.”
Although the process is methodical, it results in something realistic that Rynn has seen reflected around him in the real world.
“When you’re in Scotland, if you have Scottish ancestry, a lot of times people can tell and guess what clan that ancestry comes from by taking one look at your face,” Rynn said. “I would walk around Perth and see people who looked like one of the reconstructions I was working on, and I felt like I was meeting people I was sculpting.”