Posted on 02/27/2007 7:57:14 PM PST by TigerLikesRooster
Which is the true face of 12,000 years BC?
NICK PISA
IN ROME
"TRAVEL back through time and space to the edge of man's beginnings... discover a savage world whose only law was lust!" ran the tagline for One Million Years BC, the "caveman" film starring Raquel Welch.
One can only hope that ancient ideals of feminine beauty were somewhat different, after scientists revealed for the first time what Stone Age women really looked like.
Thea, who lived more than 14,000 years ago, was reconstructed by sculptors working with anthropologists using computer technology.
Experts have recreated the faces of men using similar techniques, but this is the first time a Stone Age woman has been reconstructed.
Her skeleton was found in a cave near Messina on the Italian island of Sicily in 1937, along with the incomplete skeletons of six other humans, thought to be her family.
Working at Palermo University, the team spent six months on the project, practising techniques that have been used recently to recreate the faces of Egyptian pharaohs and Count Ugolino, a 13th-century Tuscan noble whose bones were found in 2001.
Artistic licence was used when deciding to give the ancient Sicilian the same black hair common in modern women from southern Italy.
And with her pronounced jaw and hooked nose she was certainly no beauty, but no doubt the hard life she led meant her image was not uppermost in her mind.
Experts estimate that when she died she was about 30, much older than the normal life expectancy 14,000 years ago, and at 1.65m (5ft 4in), she was taller than your average Stone Age woman.
Thea's remains had been hidden away in Palermo University for 50 years, before they were discovered again in the late 1980s.
Valerio Agnesi, of Palermo University, said: "Looking at her it's difficult to say that Thea was a beautiful woman, but her life back then would have been tough.
"We took some artistic licence with her hair, but the rest of the reconstruction is as close as we feel we could possibly get, and it is the first time a Stone Age woman's face has been recreated.
"Scientifically, this was a fascinating project and it has helped build up a picture of what Thea's life would have been like in the Sicily of 14,000 years ago.
"She was around 30 when she died, which is young in today's terms but back then it would have been longer than usual, and she was also taller than the average Stone Age woman. We think this means she must have had a healthy and regular lifestyle. It would have involved hunting for food and gathering plants and fruit.
"She probably moved around in the small group that she was found with, who are very probably other family members. We don't know how they died and we cannot find any sign of violence, but we are carrying out further tests."
Experts believe Thea was a woman of importance in her community, as her joints were in good condition and she was found with a deer-tooth necklace.
She will now go on display at the Gemellaro Museum in Palermo.
I had one like that once, couldn't train him until he was castrated.
If she were a fish, I'd throw her back.
Never trust a skinny Italian grandma.
How did we ever make it out of that time period? Alcohol?
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)
"No doubt, mummified or just rotted."
Yeah, I remember when he said he would have liked to date that mummy he viewed in a museum.
"You know, if I were a single man, I might ask that mummy out. That's a good-looking mummy" —Bill Clinton, looking at "Juanita," a newly discovered Incan mummy on display at the National Geographic museum
What a crock.
You cannot tell someone's lips, nose or eye flesh from a skull. That's all guessing.
Make a copy of the skull, send it to six or seven different Facial Reconstruction Artists that do work for the police force, and you'll get six or seven different faces besides this one.
ping
After being jilted by Fred for that harlot Wilma. Thea' life took a downward turn.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.