Facial recognition software has helped recreate the faces of Czech kings who died more than a thousand years ago.
Researchers used radiocarbon dating and DNA analysis to identify the remains of Duke Spytihněv I and his brother, Vratislav, who died a few years apart at the beginning of the 10th century.
The team scanned the dukes’ skulls in tiny details and incorporated information about their diet, health and mobility to make three-dimensional similarities.
A digital result of each man was created, each showing blue eyes and reddish-brown hair – all determined by DNA analysis.
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After taking digital photos from every angle in tiny detail, the researchers “managed” Spytihněv I with musculature, based on both anatomical and soft tissue depth methods.
The brothers were from the Přemyslid House, a Czech dynasty that ruled from the ninth century to the early fourteenth century, controlling Bohemia, Moravia, Poland, Hungary and Austria.
The sons of the first ruler Přemyslid, Bořivoj I and his wife, St. Ludmila, are considered important figures in Czech history.
Leading from 894 AD. until his death in 915 AD, Spytihněv I founded Prague Castle and formed important alliances to defend the Hungarian invasion of Hungary.
Vratislav I, his younger brother, took over after Spytihněv’s death and was also the father of King Wenceslaus, the patron saint of the Czech state.
Anthropologist Emanuel Vlček discovered his remains at Prague Castle in the 1980s, but improved radiocarbon dating now allows researchers to become more specific in identifying individuals.
The team used DNA analysis to determine both Duke Vratislav I (pictured) and his borther had reddish hair and blue eyes.
Researchers are using 3D reconstruction technology to determine what medieval rulers looked like. Pictured: Material reconstruction of Spytihněv I’s face
And DNA analysis can determine diet and mobility and other characteristics.
Archaeologist Jan Frolík, geophysicist Jiří Šindelář and photographer Martin Frouz collaborated with the Cicero André da Costa Moraes project, a forensic expert in facial reconstruction in Brazil.
They scanned the skulls of the Přemyslid brothers using photogrammetry, a process that involved digital photographs taken from multiple angles in exact detail.
Not only is the technique fast and accurate, it is virtually contactless, keeping the remnants from further degradation.
“We got a very detailed and fairly accurate picture of each individual’s skull in this way … and then it’s no longer a problem to do a digital scientific reconstruction of the face,” Šindelář told Czech Radio.
Moraes “concretized” his subject with musculature, based on various reconstruction techniques, including anatomical methods and soft tissue depth.
It is crucial for him to work in “blindness,” Moraes said, not knowing anything about his subjects beforehand.
“If you like a historical figure, maybe – maybe – in the deepest part of your mind, you could try to create an interesting face,” he told Radio Prague International.
“So it’s important not to know who you’re rebuilding.”
Moraes, an expert in forensic facial reconstruction, used the same technique to reveal the faces of other Czech kings, including Queen Judith of Thuringia (pictured)
Moraes used the same technique to reveal the faces of other Czech kings, including Queen Judith of Thuringia and Zdislava of Lemberk, the patron saint of difficult marriages and those mocked for their piety.
By order of the Archdiocese of Prague, the team will continue to work on the reconstruction of the face of St. Ludmila of Bohemia, in honor of the 1100th anniversary of her martyrdom.
Reconstruction work will also begin on Vratislav’s son, Wenceslaus I, the patron saint of the Czech Republic who was killed by his brother on his way to Mass.
For most of his subjects, Moraes can only guess the color of his eyes and hair, but an extensive DNA study showed that both brothers had reddish-brown hair and blue eyes.
However, their hairstyles, facial hair and clothing were all polite assumptions based on illustrations from surviving manuscripts.