Facial Reconstruction Reveals Face Of Man Who Lived In Roman Scotland 2,000 Years Ago

A team of international scientists have digitally rebuilt the face of a man who lived on the Roman frontier in Scotland almost 2,000 years ago, Sky News reported. They reconstructed it from skeletal remains.

The stunning reconstruction, alongside the man's actual skull, will be put on public display next month at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh as part of an exhibition titled Roman Scotland: Life On The Edge Of Empire.

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"I have worked with the finds from Roman Inveresk for years, but this facial reconstruction finally gives me a sense of what one of its inhabitants looked like," Dr Fraser Hunter, principal curator of prehistory and Roman archaeology at National Museums Scotland (NMS), said as quoted by Sky News. 

"Archaeology tells us about people who had hopes and fears just like us, and it is a privilege to present a vision of this resident of Inveresk using contemporary scientific techniques."

"We cannot know how exactly he looked, but we think his family and friends would have spotted the likeness."

Researchers used a mix of advanced DNA testing, bone analysis, and facial modelling techniques to figure out what the man looked like. Scientific tests showed that he was likely in his early 50s when he died sometime between AD 140 and 165 at Inveresk, a site near modern-day Edinburgh. 

Interestingly, DNA results revealed he wasn't originally from Scotland at all; he grew up in southern Britain and made the long, arduous journey hundreds of miles north to the Firth of Forth coast.

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The experts then studied his skeleton and were able to piece together details about his physical life. They found that he wasn't a soldier, because old injuries would have made it impossible for him to swing a sword. 

He had a healed broken nose and a bone growth near his right elbow caused by septic arthritis, which meant he had very limited movement in that arm.

The man was buried near a Roman fort at Inveresk, alongside a small group of other men. However, researchers point out that these graves hold a rather dark and unusual secret. 

Four of the six adult men buried there, including this man, were decapitated after they died. 

Archaeologists say these are some of the earliest examples of post-mortem decapitation ever found in Britain and the very first in Scotland. 

Experts aren't entirely sure why this happened, suggesting it could have been a form of punishment, a cultural ritual, or a superstition tied to how these men passed away.

"The burials at Inveresk are exceptional and incredibly rare survivals from Roman Scotland," Dr Jess Thompson, curator of osteoarchaeology at NMS, said, as quoted by the media outlet. 

"Taking an interdisciplinary approach to the analysis of human remains allows us to understand the physical attributes of these individuals as well as their life stories."

"We can investigate where these men had travelled from to reach the frontier, what they were doing there and what became of them."

"This facial reconstruction by Dr Chris Rynn unites cutting-edge science with artistic vision to create an instant connection with the past, offering a dynamic portrait of what he may have looked like and who he may have been."