Researchers reconstruct faces of Czech rulers who died 1000 years ago by scanning skull

Marking another technological marvel, experts using facial recognition software have reconstructed the face of two Czech rulers who died more than a thousand years ago. The team used radiocarbon dating and DNA analysis to identify the remains of two royal brothers-Duke Spytihněv I and his brother Vratislav-both of whom died in the 10th century. They then used advanced facial recognition technology to reconstruct the skull combined with DNA analysis, which was used to determine other features like eye colour and hair. 

The team consisted of Archaeologist Jan Frolík, geophysicist Jiří Šindelář, photographer Martin Frouz and Cicero André da Costa Moraes, who is a forensic facial reconstruction expert from Brazil. For this purpose, the first scanned the dukes’ skull for minute details using a technology called photogrammetry and incorporated information about their diet, health and mobility to create their three-dimensional likeness. They then created a digital photograph of the two men, each with reddish-brown hair and blue eyes. Finally, Moraes ‘fleshed out” his subject with musculature, relying on different reconstruction techniques, including anatomical and soft tissue depth methods.

_{Credits: Vratislav I., photo: Naše historie, z.s}

'Quite accurate' 

Speaking to  Czech Radio later, Šindelář said that digital scientific reconstruction of faces was no longer a problem adding that they got the faces of the two royal ‘quite accurate’. He also stressed that it was very important not to know about the figures while reconstructing so as to avoid any kind of bias. “If you like a historical figure, maybe – maybe – in the deepest part of your mind, you might try to create an interesting face,” he told Radio Prague International.

_{Vratislav I., photo: Naše historie, z.s.}

The remains of the royal brothers were first unearthed at Prague Castle by anthropologist Emanuel Vlček in the 1980s. Both the brothers are considered to be key figures in Czech history as they were the sons of the first Přemyslid ruler, Bořivoj I and his wife, St. Ludmila. During their reign, they controlled the areas of Bohemia, Moravia, Poland, Hungary, and Austria.

Image Credits: english.radio.cz