Back in 1997, archaeologists were able to uncover a fetal-position skeleton at Toca dos Coqueiros, which is a specific archaeological site within Serra da Capivara National Park in Brazil. The skeleton was later found to be from over 9,600 years ago.
Live Science reports that upon analyzing the skull's shape and size, they classified it as female and dubbed it Zuzu. However, such categorization has been considered controversial, with several specialists suggesting that the skeleton was actually that of a male.
Zuzu's Skeletal Remains
Recent facial approximation efforts have shed light on this controversy. Just last year, specialists captured dozens of snaps of the skull from different angles. As part of their study, they then utilized photogrammetry to digitally stitch the different shots and come up with the skull's 3D model. They did so in order to know what this mysterious and important Brazilian figure actually looked like.
Moacir Elias Santos, study first author and archaeologist from the Ciro Falmario Cardoso Archaeology Museum, notes that attempting to recover the facial appearance of the person is a method of bringing the person into the modern era and closer to the general public. Santos says that the primary interest was to glimpse how Zuzu looked, given that Zuzu's skeleton is among the most vital findings spotted at the archaeological site.
Facial Approximation Reveals What Zuzu Could Have Looked Like
The researchers used CT scans from living and virtual donors. They used such information to modify the skull structure by adding markers for tissue thickness. This was mentioned by Cícero Moraes, study co-author and Brazilian graphics expert.
They adjusted the donor's skull structure to mirror the volume of Zuzu's skull. When the researchers do so, the soft tissue adapts to such deformation and offers an expected face that could actually be compatible with real-life Zuzu.
The specialists made two different results, with each one showing a young man who had broad lips and nose. One of these results had eyebrows and hair included based on virtual donor information. The other demonstrated Zuzu without hair and with closed eyes.
Because of the slightly emaciated digital face, the scientists drew back the lower jaw in order to match the missing tooth gap.
The researchers wrote that even though the skull was linked to the Asian population, a large number of individuals with such a kind of root have differences in structure that get circumvented by having the eyes closed. The shots were also rendered in black-and-white since the researchers did not have any accurate data regarding Zuzu's skin color. Hence, this face approximation is closest to what Zuzu's real face could have looked like.
Santos mentions that the most intriguing thing is that examining Zuzu's skull hints how the person could have actually looked like. It is a reunion of some sort with one of the country's oldest ancestors.
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