What people looked like centuries ago: Modern technology has allowed scientists to get to the bottom of the truth

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

What did people from the past look like? Most often, pictures or verbal descriptions in documentary or fiction literature serve as a reference point for answering this question. But are they objective? Often not, because the artist always conveys his personal perception, and he strives to show the most attractive image. Modern technologies allow you to recreate the real image and show what people from the past would look like if they happened to be our contemporaries.

1. King of France Henry IV

Henry IV was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and died tragically when attacked by a Catholic fan, died from his stab wounds. Henry went down in history as a kind and wise ruler who cared about the welfare of his subjects. The reconstruction of Henry's face was carried out by the historian Philip Frosch; he created a 3D model based on the surviving skull of the monarch.

2. Ava - a woman from the Bronze Age

The name Ava was given to a woman whose remains were found in a cave by Scottish archaeologists. Project manager Maya Hoole notes that the woman lived more than 3, 5 thousand years ago. She was buried in an unusual way - her remains were in a hole dug in rock. Presumably, Ava could be an important person, since the arrangement of such a tomb took a long time.

Historians found the surviving bones and recreated the image bit by bit. For example, there was no jaw, and the size of the lips was calculated in accordance with the thickness of the enamel on the teeth, and based on this data, the depth of the facial tissues was determined. Scientists have found that Ava's skull was partially deformed, presumably after her death. For what purpose this was done remains a mystery.

3. Egyptian Queen Meritamon

Meritamon was the daughter of Pharaoh Ramses II. Scientists from the University of Melbourne recreated her appearance using data obtained from medical research and computed tomography. From the surviving remains, it was possible to determine that the girl's age at the time of death was from 18 to 25 years old, and she could suffer from anemia. Egyptologists and graphic artists worked on the reconstruction of the face of Meritamon; they paid special attention to the preserved bust of the queen and statues with her image.

4. A man who lived in Dublin 500 years ago

In 2014, archaeologists in Dublin found a burial of four people, made about 500 years ago. Scientists were able to establish that all four had clear signs of malnutrition, they were all engaged in hard manual labor and were poor. One of the skulls has been preserved in the best possible way; archaeologists have used it to restore the image of a Dublin citizen who lived half a thousand years ago.

5. Astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus

Nicolaus Copernicus is rightfully considered one of the greatest mathematicians and astronomers of the Renaissance. It was he who formulated the heliocentric system, proving that the Earth and other planets revolve around the Sun. Copernicus died at the age of 70; Polish scientists, using modern technology, managed to restore his portrait.

6. Jane of Jamestown is a victim of the cannibals

Jamestown was the first colony of European migrants to settle in America. In 1609-1610, famine began among the settlers and, according to the assurances of scientists from the Smithsonian Institute of Natural History, in order to survive, people went for anything, even cannibalism.

In 2012, scientists discovered a find that shocked them. In a garbage pit among the bones of animals, they found … fragments of a human skull. During the research, it was found that the remains belonged to a young girl no older than 14 years old, who was killed and eaten in a brutal manner. The marks on the bones of the skull clearly indicated that her body, like a carcass, was torn to pieces and even the brain was eaten, and the bones found gave reason to believe that the lower body had been neatly cut by a butcher.

It is interesting that earlier scientists even managed to find out what Jesus really looked like.