Facial recognition software has helped recreate faces of royal Czechs who died more than a thousand years ago.
Researchers used radiocarbon dating and DNA analysis to identify the remains of Duke Spytihněv I and his brother, Vratislav, who died a few years apart in the early 10th century.
The team scanned the dukes ’skulls in meticulous detail and incorporated information about their diet, health and mobility to show their three-dimensional similarities.
A digital result of each man was created, showing each with blue eyes and reddish-brown hair, all determined by DNA analysis.
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After taking digital photos from all angles with meticulous detail, the researchers “skinned” Spytihněv I with musculature, based on in-depth methods of both anatomical and soft tissues.
The brothers belonged to the house of Přemyslid, a Czech dynasty that reigned from the ninth century to the early fourteenth century, controlling Bohemia, Moravia, Poland, Hungary and Austria.
They are considered important figures in Czech history, sons of the first ruler of Přemyslid, Bořivoj I and his wife, St. Ludmila.
From 894 AD until his death in 915 AD, Spytihněv I founded Prague Castle and formed important alliances to defend the Magyar invasion of Hungary.
Vratislav I, his younger brother, took over after Spytihněv’s death and was also the father of King Wenceslaus, the patron saint of the Czech state.
Anthropologist Emanuel Vlček first discovered his remains in Prague Castle in the 1980s, but improved radiocarbon dating now allows researchers to identify individuals much more specifically.
The team used DNA analysis to determine both Duke Vratislav I (pictured) and his borther had red hair and blue eyes.
Researchers use 3D reconstruction technology to determine what medieval rulers were like. In the picture: Material reconstruction of the face of Spytihněv I
And DNA analysis can determine diet and mobility and other characteristics.
Archaeologist Jan Frolík, geophysicist Jiří Šindelář and photographer Martin Frouz partnered with Cicero André da Costa Moraes, a forensic expert in forensic facial reconstruction in Brazil.
They scanned the skulls of the Přemyslid brothers using photogrammetry, a process that consists of digital photographs taken from multiple angles with demanding detail.
The technique is not only fast and accurate, but is virtually contactless, preserving the remnants of further degradation.
“We have a very detailed and accurate enough picture of the skull of each individual in this way … and then it is no longer a problem to perform a digital scientific reconstruction of the face,” Šindelář told Czech Radio.
Moraes then “concretized” the subject with musculature, based on different reconstruction techniques, including anatomical and soft tissue depth methods.
It is crucial for him to work in “blindness,” Moraes said, without previously knowing anything about his subjects.
“If you like a historical figure, maybe, maybe, in the deepest part of your mind, you can try to create an interesting face,” he told Radio Prague International.
“So it’s important not to know who’s rebuilding.”
Moraes, an expert in forensic facial reconstruction, has used the same technique to reveal the faces of other Czech royalty, including Queen Judith of Thuringia (pictured)
Moraes has used the same technique to reveal the faces of other Czech royalty, including Queen Judith of Thuringia and Zdislava of Lemberk, the patroness of difficult marriages and mocked by their piety.
At the urging of the Archdiocese of Prague, the team will then work on rebuilding the face of St. Ludmila of Bohemia in honor of the 1100th anniversary of her martyrdom.
They will also begin work to rebuild Vratislav’s son, Wenceslaus I, the patron saint of the Czech Republic who was assassinated by his brother while attending Mass.
For most of his subjects, Moraes can only guess the color of his eyes and hair, but an extensive DNA study indicated that the two brothers had reddish brown hair and blue eyes.
Her hairstyles, facial hair, and clothing, however, were well-mannered assumptions based on illustrations of manuscripts that have survived.