Written by Dale Granger Wednesday, 19 August 2009 09:43
THE creative and scientific skills of a dedicated Perth facial anthropologist have brought the remains of four, 3000-year-old Lapita people back to life in the form of 2-D facial sketches set to go on display in the Vanuatu Cultural Centre.
The four skulls, two females and two males, were discovered at a quarry site in Vanuatu and carefully excavated by a group of archaeologists.
The subsequent facial reconstructions, conducted by Dr Susan Hayes of the University of Western Australia’s School of Anatomy and Human Biology, included co-researchers Hallie Buckley, from the University of Otago, Mathew Spriggs and Stuart Bedford, from the Australian National University and Frederique Valentin, from the University of Paris.
The reconstruction was published in Leonardo, the journal of the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology.
For the first time four facial reconstructions from the same Lapita site were possible. These were based on one full skull and three skulls lacking their jaw bones.
By sketching the faces, as opposed to using clay, Dr Hayes says they were able to achieve “four reasonably good facial appearances”.
“The sheer diversity of the features, which did not fit clearly into any particular population group, is what amazed me.”
Describing her work as both an art and a science, Dr Hayes says the skull gives a number of clues as to how the person looked.
“What I don’t know, I don’t draw, but I run my fingers over the bone for clues and hints, as well as taking measurements.”
The jaw is one of the most difficult parts of a reconstruction, as opposed to the nose, eyes and mouth which are relatively straightforward.
“From the nasal bridge and the shape of the nasal aperture, we are able to determine the probable width and shape of the nose. From the nasal spine we can tell the likely form of the nasal tip. The jaw has got the most variation, due to having a lot of biomechanical forces. It is probably the dodgiest part of the skull to reconstruct,” she says.
Hayes spent two weeks working on the Lapita project in Otago. She was later invited back by the University and the Rangitane people to reconstruct the faces of two prehistoric Maori people.
The Lapita, a seafaring people, spread throughout the South Pacific and South-East Asia and were the first to populate the islands.
