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Mary D's avatar

I'm loving this move. I remember reading Clan of the Cave Bears as a teen and starting to research prehistory and finding it so difficult. This is great and I am really loving the photos. It is a great visual representation of the theme of moving apart and coming together over and over again.

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Klaas Vet's avatar

Hi Patrick, another fan here, from the Netherlands this time. You have singlehandedly rekindled my long time slumbering love for history and I am so very grateful for that.

(Side note: thanks also for introducing Leah Sutherland in to my podcast experience: she sounds like tons of fun!)

Now forgive me for bothering you with a question I’ve been carrying with me for quite some time, about the reconstruction of the faces of those ancient skulls, or any skull, really.

They look amazing -mostly-, and I understand it’s a real art... but is it science?

Has anyone ever reconstructed the face of someone whose countenance was known, but unknown to the artist doing the reconstruction? And, if so, how good a match was it?

Whenever I encounter such an reconstruction, I can’t help but wonder how helpful it is, in understanding who they were, how much they did or didn’t look like this elusive “us”.

How important do you think these faces are, and does seeing them help you in getting a feeling for how alike those ancient lives may have been?

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