We here at ArchaeoBlog disagree that it's a waste of time. The technique obviously has limitations, but this is true of almost every type of archaeological analysis. Certainly, however, the technique has some utility in modern forensic work since individuals are regularly identified using facial reconsruction. We saw this issue erupt in some degree with the initial reconstruction of Kennewick Man -- the famous one that looked like Patrick Stewart -- that seemed to suggest Caucasoid characteristics. One practionioner (a cultural anthropologist) dismissed it as being "more art than science" and not useful at all. We question why it should be that reconstructions of modern murder victims seem to be accurate enough for individual identification, but similar reconstructions on anything archaeological are said to be useless.
We think it's a perfectly legitimate avenue of inquiry and the fact that reconstructions by different researchers differ from one another and, in this case, from sculptural representations, becomes an interesting topic itself. We figure the art historians can probably learn something about artistic conventions by comparing their interpretations with the forensic reconstructions, and vice versa. If there's one thing we oughtn't be complaining about, it's a plethora of data.
Anyway, here are a few links to look into in more detail:
Computerised 3D facial reconstruction by Martin P. Evison at the University of Sheffield.
Facial reconstruction from ForensicArtist.com. Check out the Links link at the bottom of that page for many more.
And here's a good background article by Mark Rose on the National Geographic program coming up this Sunday, which includes the facial reconsruction. Also, see Mark's TutWatch page for even more.
More news
Congratulations! Archaeology museum wins top award
A 100-year-old museum, home to one of the world's largest collections of Egyptian and Sudanese archaeology, has won an industry award.
A panel of experts judged University College London's Petrie Museum to have remained relevant and interesting since its creation in 1892.
We tend to do that Archaeologists uncover thousands of artefacts
Parks Victoria has just completed the most extensive archaeological survey ever of the Victorian high country.
More than 300 cultural heritage sites and thousands of Aboriginal stone artefacts were uncovered by the 2003 bushfires.
Alps' chief ranger Peter Jacobs says the excavation of shelters shows Aboriginal people occupied the high country all year round.
Archaeologist Reads Ancient Seeds for Clues
''As with all good scientists, archaeologist Dr. Virginia Popper's stock and trade is asking questions. Even when she is showing schoolchildren though her lab in the basement of the Fowler Museum at UCLA, she asks the simple question that is always her baseline. What did you have to do with plants today?
''Popper's specialization is paleoethnobotany, which means she's fascinated by how prehistoric people used plants. Were they used for foods, fuel, medicine, exchange or fibers? Did certain plants mark status, such as chocolate among the elite in Aztec culture? How did the diets vary among distinct workers in Peru, where the fisherman, weavers and farmers consumed different foods.
More on the Great Tara Road Controversy Route of road has Irish stewing
This grassy, wind-swept hill outside Dublin was long the spiritual and political center of Ireland, an earthen fort where Celtic chieftains jockeyed for power and legend says St. Patrick confronted paganism.
Today, the Hill of Tara is at the center of another showdown -- over whether Ireland, a rapidly developing country where construction often uncovers the past, can reconcile its heritage with the demands of modern life.
After two years of arguments, the government on Wednesday authorized archaeologists to begin excavating 38 sites along the proposed route of a new highway past the hill.
'Original men' of Malaysia tell story of migration
A team of geneticists believe they have illumined many aspects of how modern humans emigrated from Africa by analyzing the DNA of the Orang Asli, the original inhabitants of Malaysia.
Because the Orang Asli appear to be directly descended from the first emigrants from Africa, they have provided valuable new clues about that momentous event in early human history.
More whining about wine Cypriots made Mediterranean's first wine: archaeologist
Cyprus was the first Mediterranean country to make wine, an Italian archaeologist said Friday in a declaration likely to upset other nations in the region claiming to have been the first to develop the tipple.
Maria-Rosaria Belgiorno said she uncovered evidence during an archaeological dig near the southern coastal town of Limassol that Cypriots produced wine up to 6,000 years ago.