Scientific Advances Allow Us to Reconstruct Remains

We're finally getting to see how people from the ancient past may have actually looked

Hiya!

We feel a strange sort of connection with our history, not just individually but as a species. Consider how many tourists visit any number of historical sites just to feel connected or search for connections to people, places, and events from long before our birth. Why is that?

Some say we leave marks, as though remnants of us linger on all the places we’ve been, things we’ve possessed, or people we’ve known. I can’t argue with the idea considering some of my experiences, and perhaps this is why experts continue to find new ways for us to learn about the past. Including inventing new technologies to reconstruct it.

And now, science is taking a more personal approach by reconstructing the faces of ancient skeletons. For the first time, we can see them face to face. Allow me to introduce you.

Medieval Ashkenazi Jews

In 2004, construction workers broke ground in Norwich, England, intending to build a new shopping mall. The project was sidelined, however, when they unearthed an 800-year-old well with the remains of 17 bodies piled on top of each other at the bottom of it—likely the result of being tossed in head-first.

The remains included six adults and 11 children, but identities and stories have confounded researchers since their discovery. Radiocarbon dating suggests the remains date to sometime between 1161 to 1216— a time with well-documented antisemitic violence in England. Thankfully, technology has progressed in DNA sequencing since its discovery.

After extracting previously detailed genetic material from the bones of six individuals, scientists found that at least four of them were related — three of which were sisters, with the youngest between five and 10 years old — and all six people were “almost certainly” Ashkenazi Jews. The fact that the well is located in what used to be the medieval Jewish quarter adds additional weight to the suggestion.