A skull of a female skeleton discovered in 1987 at Achavanich in Caithness was the basis of facial reconstruction. The female is said to have died 3700 years ago during the Bronze Age. The female, known as Ava, is a subject of a long-term research project managed by archaeologist Maya Hoole. The reconstruction was created by Hew Morrison, a forensic artist graduate of the University of Dundee.

The Bronze Age woman was buried in a pit dug into solid rock and her skull is an abnormal shape which some suggest was the result of deliberate binding. It is believed Ava was part of a much wider European group known as the Beaker culture people.

Morrison, a graduate of Dundee’s Forensic Art MSc programme, specialises in creating facial reconstructions. He used an anthropological formula to calculate the shape of Ava’s missing lower jaw, and also the depth of her skin. He also used a chart of modern average tissue depths for reference. The reconstruction was created by rebuilding the layers of muscle and tissue over the face.

(after BBC News)