Anthropologist Alexei Nechvaloda told Komsomolskaya Pravda about the secrets of reconstruction of the face of an ancient woman
A year ago, scientists discovered another burial mound in the Chelyabinsk region, dug up the remains of three people at once. Moreover, their skulls were of a strange elongated shape - by no means aliens? The find aroused such intense interest that the Arkaim Museum decided to order the reconstruction of images of ancient people by an eminent anthropologist from Ufa. Now we know what the skulls of two Sarmatian men looked like, and the woman's face was even restored.
Alien bones?
Alexey Nechvaloda only grins when he hears such statements. He had seen enough of such skulls to determine at first glance: the remains are completely human.
- Yes, the photographs have attracted a lot of attention. And the British are to blame: they let the duck go, they say, they found the remains of aliens. In fact, about 70% of the skulls of those buried have this deformation. The ancient Sarmatians used to bandage the heads of newborn children with tight bandages. What for? Either they wanted to isolate themselves from another tribe, or they emphasized social status - there are many versions. But it should be noted that the skull of the woman found is especially strongly elongated. This means that the bandage was kept longer. And then the poor fellow suffered from constant headaches due to increased intracranial pressure.
The famous Ufa anthropologist Alexei Nechvaloda took on the restoration of the woman's appearance
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It took a month to renovate
- The woman's skull was almost perfect, not damaged, except that a few teeth were missing, - says Alexey. - The reconstruction took a month. But the bones of the men had to be glued together from the fragments. It is now people are buried in coffins, but then they were simply buried. Therefore, under the pressure of the earth, the skulls, as a rule, broke.
To begin with, the scientist took a cast from the remains of the "alien".
“They took a plastic copy of the skull as a basis for the work, and returned the original back to the exhibition,” Alexey explained.
When the copy of the skull is ready, the actual reconstruction begins: the plastic skull must be turned into a kind of sculptural bust. At the same time, combine the scientific approach and the artist's vision.
- Stripes of special plasticine 5 mm thick and 10 mm wide are applied to the skull (or its cast) - a kind of noodles, says the anthropologist. - Studies have shown that the average thickness of soft tissues on the human skull is 5 mm. Where there is more, we apply additional seals. First, restore one half of the face - usually the left - and move on to the right side. Eyeballs are made from plasticine. And so the appearance of a person gradually emerges.
Surprisingly, thanks to this method, you can very reliably reflect the size and features of the face.
- Next - paint?
“No, wait,” the anthropologist says. - Our lady is a nomad, she was constantly under the sun, in the air. Most likely, she often gave birth. At 35, she could look at all 50. These moments should also be present during reconstruction: you cannot draw the skin of a young beauty, we try to make the image as realistic as possible. By the way, this is the most difficult stage of reconstruction. It is required to work on small details of the face - and all with a magnifying glass. She's a woman, not a Viking.
"Revived" with acrylic
And now, when almost everything is ready, the scientist transforms into an artist.
“Creating an image is a very serious moment,” notes Alexey Nechvaloda. - Reconstruction from the medico-forensic genre turns into a kind of creative process. We use information about the costumes of that era, hairstyles. In addition, details are important: head turn, look. And in our hands a representative of an ancient people comes to life.
Usually such reconstructions are tinted in bronze. This time the Ufa scientists decided to experiment.
- For the first time we tinted the face of a Sarmatian to match the color of human skin, reflected the color of the eyes. This is the first reconstruction in Russia "a la nature", - said Alexei Nechvaloda. - I'll reveal a secret: my wife helped me, she is an artist, an ethnographer. And the two of us have suffered! But the result is worth it.
With a haircut, scientists decided not to fantasize - they came up with a trick.
“If you paint your hair, the image will resemble a mannequin in a store,” the scientist notes. - Therefore, we left a small fragment of the hairstyle at the high forehead, and covered the head with a cloth like a hood. This technique helped us get rid of a lot of hair coloring.
Solid mysticism
The story of the Sarmatka is steeped in mysticism. When scientists took the bones to Ufa, they had a terrible accident. The car was crushed by a strong impact, but people and fragile cargo were not injured.
- Well, they disturbed someone at these excavations … - the people on the forums superstitiously assumed.
Archaeologists also said that there were no things in the woman's grave at all.
- It's strange, usually they put at least a simple pot, - says the anthropologist. - And also, as archaeologists said, during excavations the earth gave in very hard, as if it had been rammed so that the woman would not get out. It is possible that she was engaged in some kind of magical practices. By the way, there is no evidence that she really is a priestess. Perhaps an ordinary woman.
PS This is not the end of the work on "revitalizing" the Sarmatian. Moscow expert in the field of 3D Azamat Kantemirov undertook to recreate the appearance of the ancient "priestess" in full growth. Soon we will see not only the face of an ancient woman, but also her posture, features of her figure, and costume. In the meantime, you can admire the image of the "alien" in the Arkaim Museum.
reference
Sarmatians - Iranian-speaking tribes, nomads, lived in the period from VI BC. until the IV century AD, inhabited the steppe regions of modern Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan. The first mentions belong to Herodotus. According to this version, the Sarmatians descended from the Amazons; among the early Sarmatians, women held a high position in society. The people lived in tents and wagons, bred livestock. Due to the way of life, the Sarmatians often attacked other tribes, seized territories, plundered cities. There is a hypothesis that modern Ossetians are direct descendants of the Sarmatians. By the way, the Bashkir National Museum contains a unique collection of Sarmatian gold jewelry.
By the way
The "Sarmatian priestess" was found in Arkaim, but she has nothing to do with the famous Arkaim settlement: a woman lived on this land almost two thousand years after the ancient city was destroyed.
Anastasia PIGULINA
