Face of 30,000 year

3D reconstruction using skeletal remains

The team created the 3D facial approximation by compiling multiple digital images using the skeletal remains housed at Cairo's Egyptian Museum.

According to Live Science, one feature of the skull that drew the team in was the jaw, which differed from modern mandibles. “In general terms, the skull was considered modern, but it has some elements documented as archaic, namely the large respiratory branch of the mandible, straightness of the scaly suture, and alveolar prognathism,” reads the paper. 

Many details about this youth, however, remain unknown. According to the study, his death could have been caused by mining activity due to his skeletal condition.

The research paper explains: “The bone structure presents perforation of the olecranon fossa, which would indicate heavy work in life, including the curvature of the femoral diaphysis, the possibility of physical efforts such as weight-bearing having been a constant since NK2's childhood.

Such characteristics, together with vertebral lesions present in the bones, could indicate an intense mining activity during life, which would corroborate with the evidence that the NK4 site is a site of mining of chert and the tool for such activity, the bifacial ax, present both at the NK4 site, as close to the head of the skeleton, found at the NK2 site.”

During the 3D construction, the team observed that some of the man's skull part was missing. To overcome this obstacle, they used data points from computerized tomography (CT) scans and mirrored the opposite side of the skull.

After creating the rough structure, they used photogrammetry to digitally stitch together images. This resulted in the creation of two virtual 3D models of the man. 

The first black-and-white image in the series featured a man with closed eyes. The second, created by combining artistic features, showed a man with tousled dark hair and a trimmed beard. 

According to the new study, the skeleton is the oldest Homo sapiens skeleton discovered in Egypt and may be one of the oldest in the world. The reconstruction could help us better understand human evolution.