This woman lived in present-day Malaysia an incredible 5700 years ago.
While her identity continues to baffle researchers, they have managed to virtually reconstruct the deceased’s face with pinpoint accuracy.
A team of archaeologists from the University of Malaysia discovered the woman’s skeleton during a 2017 excavation at the Guar Kepah site.
The site is located in Penang, Northwest Malaysia.
The find is one of a total of 41 skeletons discovered by the researchers on site during excavations.
Shells found surrounding the woman have been radiocarbon-dated to indicate that she lived during the Neolithic or Neolithic period.
The Neolithic Age began about 10,000 years ago and ended in 2000 BC.
It is considered to be the epoch of human history in which the transition from hunter-gatherer cultures to pastoral and farming cultures took place.
Based on tooth wear and cranial suture closure, researchers conclude the woman lived to be around 40 years old.
But how do you know now what the woman looked like back then?
With the help of computed tomography scans of the skull and 3D images, the researchers managed to reconstruct the face.
“Moreover, we used virtual donors (3D reconstructed computed tomography) with a structure close to the skull to be approximated and we adjusted (deformed) the donor until it matched the skull. With all this cross data, we have an idea of what the face might look like,” says Cicero Moraes, a Brazilian graphics expert working on the project.
According to the researchers, it is not an exact replica of the face.
What is clear, however, is that the woman had a wide nose and full lips.
She was found with her arms crossed surrounded by grave goods, including pottery and stone tools.
The researchers conclude that she held an important position in society at the time.