Facial recognition software has helped recreate the faces of Czech royals 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 within a few years of each other in the early 10th century.
The team scanned the dukes’ skulls in great detail and incorporated information about their diet, health, and mobility to reflect their three-dimensional similarities.
A digital result was made of each man, each with blue eyes and reddish brown hair – all of which were determined by DNA analysis.
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After taking digital photos from every angle down to the smallest detail, the researchers ‘worked out’ Spytihněv I with muscular system, relying on both anatomical and soft tissue depth methods
The brothers came from the House of Přemyslid, a Czech dynasty that ruled from the 9th century to the early 14th century and controlled Bohemia, Moravia, Poland, Hungary and Austria.
They are considered important figures in Czech history, the sons of the first Přemyslid ruler, Bořivoj I and his wife, St. Ludmila.
Reigning from 894 AD until his death in 915 AD, Spytihněv I founded Prague Castle and formed important alliances to repel an invasion by the Magyars of Hungary.
Vratislav I, his younger brother, took over after Spytihněv’s death and was also the father of King Wenceslas, the patron saint of the Czech state.
Anthropologist Emanuel Vlček first discovered their remains in Prague Castle in the 1980s, but improved radiocarbon dating now allows researchers to become much more specific in identifying individuals.
The team used DNA analysis to determine that both Duke Vratislav I (pictured) and his brother had reddish hair and blue eyes.
Researchers use 3D reconstruction technology to determine what medieval rulers looked like. Pictured: Material reconstruction of the face of Spytihněv I.
And DNA analysis can determine nutrition and mobility and other characteristics.
Archaeologist Jan Frolík, geophysicist Jiří Šindelář and photographer Martin Frouz collaborated with Cicero André da Costa Moraes, a forensic facial reconstruction expert from Brazil on the project.
They scanned the skulls of the Přemyslid brothers using photogrammetry, a process of taking digital photos from multiple angles down to the finest detail.
The technology is not only fast and accurate, but also virtually contactless, so that the remains are not broken down further.
“ We got a very detailed and quite accurate image of the skull of each individual in this way … and then it is no longer a problem to do a digital scientific reconstruction of the face, ” Šindelář told the Czech. radio.
Moraes then ‘worked out’ his subject with muscle mass, relying on various reconstruction techniques, including anatomical and soft tissue depth methods.
It’s crucial for him to work in “blindness,” said Moraes, who knew nothing about his subjects beforehand.
“If you like a historical figure, maybe – maybe – in the depths of your mind, you might be trying to create an interesting face,” he told Radio Prague International.
“So it’s important not to know who you’re reconstructing.”
Moraes, a forensic facial reconstruction expert, has used the same technique to reveal the faces of other Czech royals, including Queen Judita of Thuringia (pictured)
Moraes has used the same technique to reveal the faces of other Czech royals, including Queen Judita of Thuringia and Zdislava of Lemberk, the patron saint of troubled marriages and those mocked for their piety.
Commissioned by the Archdiocese of Prague, the team will then work on the reconstruction of the face of Saint Ludmila of Bohemia in honor of the 1,100th anniversary of her martyrdom.
They will also begin to reconstruct Vratislav’s son, Wenceslas I, the patron saint of the Czech Republic who was murdered by his brother on the way to Mass.
For most of his subjects, Moraes can only guess at eye and hair color, but extensive DNA study indicated that both brothers had reddish-brown hair and blue eyes.
However, their hairstyles, facial hair, and clothing were all substantiated guesses based on manuscript illustrations that have survived.