Face of Ancient Andean Man Reconstructed

PUNÍN, ECUADOR—Live Science reports that the face of a man who lived in Ecuador's Andes Mountains some 3,000 years ago has been digitally reconstructed by Christopher Rynn of the University of Dundee. The man’s skull, known as Punín-2, was discovered in a ravine in the Chimborazo region of Ecuador in the 1970s. Rynn explained that the man descended from an ancestral group of North Siberians and East Asians. “Punín-2 resembles an East Asian skull from the front, but not at all from the side,” he said. Physical analysis of the skull suggests the man was about 50 years old when he died. Rynn used digital techniques, partial physical reconstruction with wax, and data on the thicknesses of tissues to recreate the face. He also consulted with people who now live in the Chimborazo region—and are likely to be descended from Punín-2—for guidance on the hairstyle and the setting of the eyes in the reconstruction. “The hairstyle is very specific,” Rynn said. “If it’s wrong, it looks like a different tribe,” he explained. To read about infant burials excavated along Ecuador's coast, go to "Protecting the Young."