1.5.5 Scientific reconstruction of the external appearance based on the skulls of representatives of the ancient population of Russia and historical figures

Research Area 1. Social Science and Humanities Aspects of Human Capital  → Research Program 1.5 Anthropological Diversity and Adaptive Capacity in Human Populations

Context of Research Project within a Subject of Human Capital

The work on the implementation of the project is carried out in two key strategic directions:

- popularization of scientific knowledge

- actualization of historical memory by referring to the pages of the country's history. These are reconstructions of the external appearance based on the skulls of fallen soldiers of the Great Patriotic War and historical figures in the military sphere; reconstruction of the external appearance of representatives of the ancient population; reports at conferences, seminars and media interviews; books and other publications on the topic of the project; guided tours of the CFA exhibition exposition. Such works help to attract interest in specific episodes of history, the truthful presentation of specific events, which are often distorted and rewritten today in favor of hostile ideology. The depiction of participants in historical events based on the scientific reconstruction of the appearance of the skull provides a more complete and multifaceted perception of the past, awakens interest in the historical and biological components of scientific knowledge.

Project Aim

Actualization of historical memory by methods of anthropological reconstruction

Project Objectives

1. Performing scientific reconstructions of the appearance of fallen soldiers of the Great Patriotic War
2. Performing scientific reconstructions of the appearance of representatives of archaeological cultures
3. Performing scientific reconstructions of the appearance of historical figures of the past

Key Findings

2020

The scientific project was launched in 2022

2021

The scientific project was launched in 2022

2022

The lifetime appearance of an elderly individual Homo erectus, one of the first settlers from Africa, has been restored. The location of Dmanisi. Caucasus. The antiquity is 1.75 million years old. In 2022, the collection of the Laboratory of Anthropological Reconstruction was expanded with a gallery of portraits-reconstructions made from the skulls of Eskimos (six individuals). To obtain information about the physical appearance of the studied population, the latest achievements in the field of anthropological reconstruction were used. A number of portraits are made using a new technique that conveys the features of skin, hair and eye color. The portraits look like lifetime color photographs of good quality. A method for obtaining a three-dimensional image of the skull based on several photographs taken from different angles has been developed and described.

Reconstruction of the lifetime appearance of an elderly individual Homo erectus from Dmanisi

Portraits –reconstructions of Eskimos Portraits –reconstructions of Eskimos

2023

An anthropological study of three key cultural burials of the Ryazan-Oka burial grounds has been conducted.

Publications

1. Veselovskaya E.V., Rasskazova A.V. Gallery of portraits made from the skulls of Eskimos in the laboratory of anthropological reconstruction // Russian Journal of Physical Anthropology. No. 3. 2022. pp. 5-23. doi
2. Vasiliev S. V., Veselovskaya E. V., Grigorieva O. M. The ancient man from Dmanisi 3444. Craniology, reconstruction of the appearance // Bulletin of Anthropology, 2022. No. 4. pp. 338-351. doi
3. Veselovskaya E.V., Vasiliev S.V., Gavrilov A.P., etc. Mysterious Ryazan-oktsy: a collective monograph. ed. Editors: E.V. Veselovskaya, O.M. Grigorieva; N.N. Miklukho-Maklay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences // Moscow: IntelVest, 2023. - 148 p. DOI: 10.33876/978-5-6046680-4-7/1-150
4. Veselovskaya E. V., Rashkovskaya Yu. V., Metelkina I. I., Krykov E. A., Volkova E. A. Reconstruction of the Appearance of Leningrad Defenders. Bulletin of the Irkutsk State University. Geoarchaeology, Ethnology, and Anthropology Series. 2023, Vol. 46, pp. 65–83. doi
5. Vasiliev S. V., Veselovskaya E. V., Borutskaya S. B., Galeev R. M. New data on the paired burial of Sungir children // Stratum plus. Archaeology and Cultural Anthropology - 2023.  N 1. - c. 33-48. Doi
6. Grigorieva O. M., Veselovskaya E. V. Galina Vyacheslavovna Lebedinskaya – a worthy follower of the case of M.M. Gerasimov // RZHFA, No. 4, 2023, pp. 48-70. doi
7. Grigorieva O. M., Veselovskaya E. V., Pestryakov A. P. Tatyana Sergeevna Baluyeva, scientist, colleague, friend // RUFA, No. 4, 2023, pp. 89-124. doi