Anthropological (Pre-Historic) Reconstructions
An unexhaustive sampling of anthropological clay facial reconstructions
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Neanderthal Krijn
Neanderthal Krijn
Images from Kennis & Kennis Reconstructions.
Learn more about the artists, Adrie and Alfons Kennis, here
“Krijn,” nicknamed by researchers, was reconstructed by paleo-anthropological artists Adrie and Alfons Kennis, in 2021. The reconstruction is based on a bone fragment that was dredged up from the North Sea in 2001. The area where he was found, now underwater, once connected what is now Great Britain to the European continent, and was known as Doggerland. Researchers determined that the skill fragment was 50,000 to 70,000 years old, making Krijn the Netherland’s oldest Neanderthal man. The skull fragment included a portion of one of the brows, which had a distinctive dimple, indicating that there had been a benign tumor under Krijn’s skin. Using this information, as well as past experience reconstructing other Neanderthals, Adrie and Alfons Kennis created the above model.
Learn more about Krijn from the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden (the Netherlands National Museum of Antiquities), here
Shanidar 1
Shanidar 1
Stages of Shanidar 1's facial reconstruction, by artist Kathleen Gallo @kathleen_gallo_, from the Penn Museum. Learn more here
The Neanderthal known as “Shanidar 1” was discovered by archeologist Dr. Ralph Solecki in what is now Kurdistan, Northern Iraq, in the 1950s. Researchers determined that Shanidar 1 died around 60,000 years ago, and that when he was alive, he was most likely blinded in his left eye after suffering a traumatic injury to it. Debris in his ear canal also indicated deafness. His right arm had been amputated below his elbow, and his bones also showed he suffered from arthritis. Despite all this, researchers estimated he was at least 50 years old, which we understand to have been an advanced age for a Neanderthal.
Using this information, Associate Curator and Keeper of the Physical Anthropology Section, Dr. Janet Monge, and Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA) artist Kathleen Gallo, created a reconstruction of Shanidar 1’s face. Though Shanidar 1’s original skeleton remains in Iraq, a mold of his skull was made in the 1970s, and was transferred to the Penn Museum in 1980. There have been very few casts made from the mold, making Monge and Gallo’s reconstruction quite special.
Why is exploring Shanidar 1’s story so important? According to Dr. Janet Monge, he shows us that "dealing with disability with kindness and compassion has been a deep feature of human evolutionary history."
What else have we learned from Shanidar 1?
Facial reconstruction of Naia, by archeologist James Chatters and sculptor Tom McClellan, from National Geographic
Naia
Naia
Around 12,000-13,000 years ago, a teenage girl died in an underwater cave on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, now called Hoyo Negro, or “the black hole.”
In 2007, Mexican divers found her skeleton, called “human skeleton HN5/48.” She was then nicknamed Naia, after the Greek word for water nymph, and scientists were able to extract enough DNA from her remains to assist anthropologist James Chatters and sculptor Tom McClellan in creating their 3D facial reconstruction.
Learn more about Naia and the Hoyo Negro project here
Divers using lights to illuminate Hoyo Negro, where Naia's remains were found. Photo from Roberto Chavez Arce/the Associated Press via the San Antonio Express-News
Cheddar Man
Cheddar Man
"He [Cheddar Man] reminds us that you can't make assumptions about what people looked like in the past based on what people look like in the present, and that the pairings of features we are used to seeing today aren't something that's fixed."
- Postdoctoral researcher Dr. Tom Booth
Cheddar Man's facial reconstruction by Kennis & Kennis Reconstructions, from the Natural History Museum in London. Learn more here
In 1903, a 10,000 year old skeleton was found in Gough’s Cave at Cheddar Gorge, in Somerset. Called “Cheddar Man,” he is the oldest British person to ever have his genome sequenced.
The results of his genome sequence surprised researchers. Previously scientists believed that prehistoric Europeans had very pale skin; now they understand that lighter skinned Europeans are actually a relatively more recent phenomenon. They determined that Cheddar Man had had dark skin, curly hair, and blue eyes.
Cheddar Man’s facial reconstruction, built on a 3D printed replica of his skull, was created by the same artists who produced the Neanderthal Krijn reconstruction, Adrie and Alfons Kennis.
Cheddar Man's facial reconstruction and skeleton, being prepared for display at the Natural History Museum in London. Learn more here
Upper Largie Woman
Upper Largie Woman
A skeleton, over 4,000 years old, was found in the Scottish Upper Largie Quarry on accident by excavators in 1997. The “Upper Largie Woman,” as she was called, had lived during the Bronze Age - between 1500 and 2200 BCE - and had been buried, in a crouched position, in a stone-lined grave.
Analysis of Upper Largie Woman’s bones determined she that had died in her 20s, and that she had suffered from illness and malnutrition while alive. Unfortunately her remains were not in a condition to extract DNA, so her exact skin, hair, and eye color are unknown. Her facial reconstruction was created on a 3D printed replica of her skull by sculptor and forensic artist Oscar D. Nilsson, who used educated guesses based on similar burials to fill in the gaps.
Upper Largie Woman’s remains have now been reburied, in a similar position and orientation as her original burial, and her facial reconstruction can bee seen at the Kilmartin Museum in Kilmartin, Scotlan.
Images from sculptor and forensic artist Oscar D. Nilsson,
GIF via Live Science
Learn more about the artist here
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