Face recognition software has helped recreate faces of Czech royals who died more than a thousand years ago.
Researchers have used radiocarbon dating and DNA analysis to identify the remains of Duke Spytihnev I and his brother, Vratislav, who died within a few years of each other in the early 10th century.
The team scanned the skulls of the dukes in fine detail and recorded information about their diet, health and motility to reflect their three-dimensional parables.
A digital result was created of each man showing each one with blue eyes and auburn hair – all determined by DNA analysis.
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After taking digital photos from every angle and with fine detail, the researchers depicted Spytihněv I using muscular systems and relying on both anatomical and soft tissue depth methods
The brothers came from the home of Přemyslid, a Czech dynasty that ruled from the 9th century until the beginning of the 14th century and ruled Bohemia, Moravia, Poland, Hungary and Austria.
They are considered important figures in Czech history, the sons of the first ruler of Přemyslid, Bořivoj I and his wife, St. Ludmila.
From 894 AD until his death in 915 AD, Spytihněv I founded the Castle of Prague and formed important alliances to repel the invasion by the Magicians of Hungary.
Vratislav I, his younger brother, took over after Spytihnev’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 through improved dating of radiocarbon, researchers can now become much more specific in identifying individuals.
The team used DNA analysis to determine that Duke Vratislav I (pictured) and his removed had reddish hair and blue eyes.
Researchers use 3D reconstruction technology to determine what medieval rulers looked like. In the photo: Material reconstruction of the face of Spytihněv I
And DNA analysis can determine diet, mobility and other characteristics.
Archaeologist Jan Frolík, geophysicist Jiří Šindelář and photographer Martin Frouz have partnered with Cicero André da Costa Moraes, a forensic expert on facial reconstruction in Brazil on the project.
They scanned the skulls of the Přemyslid brothers using photogrammetry, a process that takes digital photos from various angles in precise detail.
The technique is not only fast and accurate, it is virtually contactless, preserving the remnants of further deterioration.
“In this way we got a very detailed and very accurate picture of the skull of each individual … and then it is no longer a problem to perform a digital scientific reconstruction of the face,” Šindelář told Czech Radio said.
Thereafter, Moraes ‘expanded’ his subject with muscling and relied on various reconstruction techniques, including methods of anatomical and soft tissue depth.
It is crucial for him to work in ‘blindness’, Moraes said, knowing nothing in advance of his subjects.
“If you like a historical figure, maybe – maybe – in your deepest thoughts, you can try to create an interesting face,” he told Radio Prague International.
“So it’s important not to know who you’re rebuilding.”
Moraes, a forensic expert on facial reconstruction, used the same technique to reveal the face of other Czech royals, including Queen Judita of Thuringia (photo)
Moraes used the same technique to reveal the visits of other Czech royals, including Queen Judita of Thuringia and Zdislava of Lemberk, the patron saint of difficult marriages and those mocked for their piety.
Commissioned by the Archdiocese of Prague, the team will work to reconstruct the face of Saint Ludmila of Bohemia in honor of the 1100th anniversary of her martyrdom.
They will also begin work on the reconstruction of Vratislav’s son, Wenceslas I, the patron saint of the Czech Republic who was killed by his brother on the way to the mass.
For most of his subjects, Moraes can only guess at the eye and hair color, but extensive DNA study has shown that both brothers have auburn hair and blue eyes.
However, their hairstyles, facial hair, and clothing were all trained guesses based on illustrations in surviving manuscripts.