A collaboration between scientists and artists has resulted in an impressive reconstruction of the face of a woman who lived 10,500 years ago in what is now the Meuse Valley in Belgium.
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The preserved remains of the Stone Age woman, who was named Mos’anne, were discovered in the late 1980s in the Margaux cave, located near the modern city of Dinant, in Belgium, close to the French border.
Now, a team of scientists from Ghent University in Belgium, part of the ROAM Project (Regional Outlook on Ancient Migration), has produced a realistic reconstruction of her face, as well as a digital representation of what her life may have looked like when she was alive.
The project was carried out in collaboration with Dutch artists Adrie and Alfons Kennis from Kennis & Kennis, who were responsible for the facial reconstruction, while Ulco Glimmerveen created the illustration.
Soon, the facial reconstruction of the woman will go on tour. Starting August 26, it will be displayed in several museums across Belgium as part of a traveling exhibition throughout the country.
The science behind the art
Using well-preserved DNA extracted from the woman’s skull, scientists determined that she had dark hair and blue eyes.
They also discovered that she belonged to the same population of hunter-gatherers as the “Cheddar Man,” whose remains were found in England in 1903.
However, she had a lighter skin tone than Cheddar Man and other hunter-gatherer populations who lived in Western Europe during the Mesolithic period, or Middle Stone Age.
This discovery suggests that Mesolithic hunter-gatherers had varied skin tones, which may have been influenced by factors such as diet, migration patterns, and local climate.
“This indicates that there was more diversity in skin pigmentation than we previously thought,” explained Isabelle De Groote, an archaeologist at Ghent University who led the reconstruction project, in an interview with the London Times.
From her remains, researchers were also able to deduce that the woman had prominent eyebrows, a high nasal bridge, and was between 35 and 60 years old at the time of her death.
Based on Mesolithic artifacts found in the Meuse Valley — including fish remains, hunting bones, and stone tools — scientists suspect that her group was likely nomadic.
With this information, the artists were able to bring not only her face but also her world to life, including hunting techniques, means of transport, and the flora and fauna of the region.
Photo and video: Kennis & Kennis Reconstructions. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
