| Scientists in Greece have reconstructed the face of an ancient Athenian girl, using the teeth and skull found in a mass grave. Named "Myrtis", the life size mannequin now forms part of an exhibition called "Face to Face with the Past." Greek scientists and archaeologists have given a face to an ancient Athenian girl from the 5th century BC The facial reconstruction process utilized the teeth and skull from her skeleton, discovered in a mass grave in 1995. The 11 year old girl, known as "Myrtis", died of typhoid fever during a plague in 430 BC Manolis Papagrigorakis, a professor and orthodontist from the University of Athens, worked with a team of 20 scientists on the project. [Manolis Papagrigorakis, Professor and Orthodontist]: (Greek) "We had all of the skull, the jaw, and the teeth, and something very rare - the milk teeth on the skull. These all helped us to be accurate with the final product, and we are very close - 95 percent close to reality with the final product." The scientists used a 3-D technological program called the "Manchester method" - from the University of Manchester - often used on Egyptian mummies, for the reconstruction process. [Manolis Papagrigorakis, Professor and Orthodontist]: (Greek) "The first part of the research was an analysis of the ancient DNA in order find out what the Athenians of the period had died of in Athens. This study took place in 2006 and it was found to be typhoid fever." Typhoid fever killed many during the period, including ... |
