All news

Scientists restore appearances of Yakutia residents of 15, 18 centuries

Specialists from various fields now can add to exhibitions certain digital material that can be quickly forwarded to them

YAKUTSK, April 9. /TASS/. Scientists of the Institute for Humanitarian Studies and Problems of the Low-Numbered Peoples of the North (the Russian Academy of Sciences' Siberian Branch) and the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology (the Russian Academy of Sciences) have used virtual reconstruction to restore the appearance of people who lived in Yakutia in the 15th and the 18th centuries, Alexandra Prokopyeva, a researcher at the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, told TASS.

"We have used virtual reconstruction, to restore the appearance of a warrior who lived in the 15th century in Suntarsky Ulus in western Yakutia, as well as an 18th-century shaman from central Yakutia. First of all, museums are interested in obtaining such material, as now they can exhibit not only ancient artifacts, but also the appearance of people who lived in different eras. <...> When we can see a person's face, we feel his individuality, we can feel better his history and the era when he lived," the expert said.

Specialists from various fields now can add to exhibitions certain digital material that can be quickly forwarded to them. "Another option we have is to send materials to other researchers. For example, the received digital copy can be sent to specialists in other fields in order to obtain a new range of information," she continued.

The scientists plan to create a digital gallery of Yakutia's residents from different eras, including historical figures. "Our institute develops actively the direction of social archaeology. It is led by Doctor of History Rosalia Bravina. We pay great attention to socio-demographic and medical indicators - gender, age, injuries, health conditions and pathologies, based on the remains found in Yakutia," she added.

What Yakutia residents looked like

"The warrior had several injuries. They are seen on the skeleton and skull bones, most likely, he had scars on the face. We faced a challenge - to restore his appearance at the time of his death at the age of about 50-60 years, or to make a reconstruction without injuries. So far, we eye the second option," the researcher said.

The warrior had a broad and strong physique. "Nowadays, we would say that he is an "athletic build" man: large embossed bones, to which were attached, probably, many bulky muscles," she said.

The shaman was of medium build. "Anthropologists have stressed he clearly ate well, did not suffer from exhaustion. He had long bones and was about 170-175 cm tall. Unfortunately, most likely he died at a fairly young age. I need to note that the cause of death cannot be determined from the bone remains, as additional research is needed here," she added.

Facial reconstruction was performed at the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, where experts used the well-known Gerasimov method to obtain digital images based on scanned materials. "The institute's expert Ravil Galeev used the well-known Gerasimov method, which has been used to reconstruct appearances of many historical figures, including Ivan the Terrible," the specialist noted.

The North Scientific and Educational Center

The work was carried out under a program of the North Scientific and Educational Center, which comprises institutions of Yakutia's Academy of Sciences, the Yakut Scientific Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Northeastern Federal University. The center's inter-regional project office operates from Moscow. The center represents five Far Eastern regions - Yakutia, Sakhalin, Magadan, Kamchatka and Chukotka.