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Australian researchers have reconstructed the face of an ancient Egyptian mummy, using a 3D printer to create a replica skull and forensic sculpting techniques to bring it to life.

While the sculpture is awesome in its own right, and allows us to get a glimpse into an ancient culture, the team says the reconstruction will also teach students about diagnosing pathologies in former populations.

“The idea of the project is to take this relic and, in a sense, bring her back to life by using all the new technology,” said team member Varsha Pilbrow, from the University of Melbourne.

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“This way she can become much more than a fascinating object to be put on display. Through her, students will be able to learn how to diagnose pathology marked on our anatomy, and learn how whole population groups can be affected by the environments in which they live.”

The funny thing is that the mummy – which is just a wrapped head with no body – was found by accident inside the university’s collections area where a curator was performing an audit.

The team suspects the head might have been brought to the university by Frederic Wood Jones, an archaeologist turned anatomy professor, who taught there in the early 1900s.

Source http://www.sciencealert.com/researchers-have-recreated-a-mummy-s-face-thanks-to-3d-printing

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