Scientists from the American laboratory Parabon NanoLabs have used the genetic data of various mummies to create 3D models of their faces. These are people from Ancient Egypt. It is the first time that such ancient faces have been reconstructed.
They used the technology known as forensic DNA phenotyping. With genetic data, facial features are predicted, among other physical characteristics. All three subjects had dark hair and eyes and light brown skin. In addition, genetically they were closer to the current inhabitants of the Mediterranean and the Middle East than to the Egyptians.\
Parabon recreates Egyptian Mummy faces from ancient DNA.https://t.co/Cp3HQaG2OC pic.twitter.com/iK1ALTIgsY
— Fake History Hunter (@fakehistoryhunt) September 20, 2021
The scientists, who stress that traits such as skin and eye color can be identified by markers in the human genome, highlight that the method could be used in forensic medicine today.
The mummies were found in Abusir el-Melek, an ancient Egyptian city south of Cairo. They were buried between 1380 BC and 425 AD In 2017, geneticists at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Humanity in Germany isolated their DNA.