The process allowed the researchers to get a highly accurate image of what the man's facial features would have looked like.īut to understand how the man's hair and beard might have looked, they had to look back in history. 'Over the top, we then placed a layer of artificial skin.We don't know if he was really skinny or fat, so we try to choose something in the middle,' she said. 'All of the musculature can be placed because the bone lying underneath tells us where each muscle was,' she said. The researchers then used the depth pegs to work out where the muscle tissue would have been placed. 'Because we know the thickness of soft tissue for man of his age, we could then create depth marker so that we know what the distance should be between the bone and skin,' said Professor Black. The team then used a computer programme to start to build up a picture of the man's face. 'Instead, we used a 3D scanner to upload all of the fragments to a computer.' Professor Sue Black from Aberdeen University told MailOnline: 'The skull was incredibly fragmented after he was hit around the head so many times so, as you can imagine, it was very difficult for us to try to and put the pieces back together. To reconstruct his face, the researchers used a mixture of computer modelling and anthropological research. Perhaps his murder was the result of interpersonal conflict or was there a sacrificial element relating to his death?' 'While we don't know why the man was killed, the placement of his remains gives us insight into the culture of those who buried him. 'Here, we have a man who has been brutally killed, but who has been laid to rest in the cave with some consideration - placed on his back, within a dark alcove, and weighed down by beach stones. Hearths and extensive iron-working debris indicate that the cave was selected specifically for this use, but the totally unexpected find of the skeleton gave the cave a completely different significance.Įxcavation leader Steven Birch said: 'Having specialised in prehistoric cave archaeology in Scotland for some years now, I am fascinated with the results. The skeleton was discovered when a team of volunteers were digging to determine when the cave might have been occupied.īelow substantial layers relating to cave-use since the turn of the 20th century, they found evidence that the cave had been used for iron-smithing during the Pictish period. The Picts were a group of wild savages who lived in eastern and northern Scotland from around 270-900ADĪ bone sample sent for radiocarbon dating found he died sometime between 430 and 630 A.D., commonly referred to as the Pictish period in Scotland. The Picts mysteriously disappear from written history around 900AD.Įxperts suggest that they likely merged with southern Scots, who already had a written history by that time, and the two clans' histories combined.Įngraving of a pict warrior. Picts held the territory north of the Firth of Forth in Scotland - and were one of the reasons even heavily armoured Roman legions could not conquer Scotland. The habit of fighting naked, especially in the cold Scottish climate, didn't harm the tribe's reputation for ferocity. Mel Gibson's blue face paint in Braveheart is a nod to the Pictish tradition of body-paint - but the real Picts fought stark naked, and there are records of them doing so up until the 5th Century. It's not known what they called themselves. The Roman name for the people - Picti - means 'painted people'. The Picts eventually formed a tribal confederation whose political motivations derived from a need to ally against common enemies such as the Britons and the Romans. The collection of tribes lived in what is today eastern and northern Scotland during the Late Iron Age and early Medeival periods from around 270-900AD. The Picts were a group of wild savages who infamously fought off Rome's toughest legions before disappearing from history. Mel Gibson as William Wallace in Braveheart (1995)
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |