Dundee University graduates reconstruct faces of ancient remains
Forensic artists Viviana Conti and Elysia Greenway used special 3D scanners to build up digital versions of the skulls.
Last updated 25th Mar 2021
Two Dundee University graduates have used high-tech software to reconstruct the faces of several hundred-year-old remains found underground in Edinburgh last summer.
Skeletons were dug up in Leith as part of the the capital's trams project.
Forensic artists Viviana Conti and Elysia Greenway used special 3D scanners to build up digital versions of the skulls.
The first two pictures feature a man and woman both aged between 35 and 50. Early forensic analysis indicates that the woman may have suffered from nutritional deficiencies.
The work was undertaken as part of an ongoing internship with the City of Edinburgh Council Archaeologist Service.
Councillor Lesley Macinnes, Transport and Environment Convener at City of Edinburgh Council, said, “These images give us a fascinating insight into the lives of the people who lived in our city centuries ago. The work being carried out now will not only shed light on the area’s past but will help to conserve it for many years to come.”
Previous investigations outside South Leith Parish Church showed that in the medieval period the church’s graveyard extended across the road with graves surviving beneath the current road surface.
John Lawson, City of Edinburgh Council Archaeologist, added, “These fantastic reconstructions help us connect directly with our forebearers. Often, we as archaeologists just see the physical remains but the work undertaken by Dundee University's forensic artists helps put the flesh, so to speak, back onto these remains and by doing so I feel brings them closer to us today.”