MOTALA, SWEDEN—Live Science reports that forensic artist Oscar Nilsson has created a 3-D reconstruction of the head of a Mesolithic man whose 8,000-year-old skull was found among the remains of at least ten other adults and an infant in what was once a lake in eastern-central Sweden. Only one of the skulls was found with a jaw, although the jaws of wild brown bears, boar, red deer, moose, and roe deer were recovered at the site. Two of the skulls had been placed on stakes that rose above the surface of the lake. To create the bust, Nilsson first used data from a computed tomography scan of the man’s skull to print a 3-D replica of it, and then used forensic methods to estimate his weight, height, and age. He reconstructed the man’s missing jaw through skull measurements. The image also shows a head wound with some signs of healing found on the man’s skull. Genetic study of the remains indicates the man had blue eyes, brown hair, and pale skin. Finally, Nilsson depicted the man wearing a wild boar skin based upon the animal jaw found at the site. “We can see from how the human skulls and animal jaws were found that they clearly meant a big deal in their cultural and religious beliefs,” he explained. To read about a massacre that occurred on a Swedish island, go to "Öland, Sweden. Spring, A.D. 480."
