The 3-D skull was printed using a consumer-quality machine and took 140 hours, under the guidance of the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience’s imaging technician Gavan Mitchell, who said that CT scanning technology combined with 3D printing means that multiple copies of specimens can be reproduced for handling and study. “We can now replicate specimens with really interesting pathologies for students to handle and for virtual reality environments, without ever touching the specimen itself,” Mitchell noted.


Sculptor Jennifer Mann, who studied facial reconstruction at the Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State University, put the final layer on the reconstruction. She finds it “poignant work, and extremely important for finally identifying these people who would otherwise have remained unknown.”

Davey concurs. “By reconstructing her we are giving back some of her identity,” he said, “and in return she has given this group of diverse researchers a wonderful opportunity to investigate and push the boundaries of knowledge and technology as far as we can go.”

This reconstruction is another step in the use of CT in examining mummies. In March, Egyptologist Zahi Hawass and Cairo University radiologist Sahar Saleem, used the technology in their book "Scanning the Pharaohs: CT Imaging of the New Kingdom Royal Mummies", in which the researchers reported on scans of royal mummies from about 1543 B.C. to 1064 B.C., including Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Tutankhamun, Seti I as well as Ramesses III.

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