Shanidar lived 75 thousand years ago and was found in 2015 in Iraqi Kurdistan, inside the cave that bears her name. Ciccillo is 150 thousand years old and was discovered inside the Lamalunga Cave, about three kilometers from Altamura, in the province of Bari, in 1993.
They both belong to the Homo Neanderthalensis species that lived in the Middle Paleolithic. And both can be given a face thanks to the Kennis brothers, paleoartists specializing in hominids. But how is it possible to reconstruct the features of men and women who lived thousands of years ago, who today also come to life in the documentary produced by the BBC for Netflix, “The Secrets of Neanderthal”?
«The Man of Altamura is still preserved in the cave, set in calcite due to natural processes. Specifically, the reconstruction of the skull was carried out thanks to the 3D model which reproduces it in a metrically correct manner, as the anatomical preservation of the subject from Bari is optimal – explains Elena Dellù, anthropologist official -. The body part, however, was also integrated thanks to other known Neanderthals since not all the bones are measurable.” It’s not the same, however Shanidar, whose skull was very fragmentary, so the reconstruction involved phases of reassembly and restoration which are the basis of the hyper-realistic reconstruction, probably also based on comparisons with other Neanderthals.
The Man of Altamura is still the subject of constant protection and documentation activities carried out on site by the Archaeological, Fine Arts and Landscape Superintendency of Bari, directed by Giovanna Cacudi. And it is he (probably an adult male 160-165 centimeters tall) who holds a record: he is the most archaic and complete Neanderthal on which it has been possible to perform paleogenetic analyses. The information obtained, in fact, has made it possible to understand aspects of the appearance and diffusion of Neanderthals and the relationships with various species and populations. And, thanks to the combination of molecular and morphological studies, we have come to know the appearance, proportions and colors of this Altamuran who lived thousands of years ago.
In 2017, a perfect reconstruction of Ciccillo was presented to the public and exhibited in the National Museum of Altamura, which began by performing a digital reproduction of the skull with morphological data collected with the use of laser scanning and photogrammetry, and then arriving at an impressive scale model, the work of the Kennis brothers, already known for having brought Öetzi back to life, l Similaun man, preserved in the Archaeological Museum of Bolzano. And, now, for having reconstructed, with the support of the University of Cambridge, the features of Shanidar, probably 40 years old at the time of death and approximately 150 centimeters tall.
«The hyper-realistic reconstructions that start from the skeletal system are created with the aim of facilitating recognition and are in fact used very often in the forensic field. They are reconstructive hypotheses of physiognomy, where the subjectivity of the artist who creates them also takes over; they are therefore not to be considered one hundred percent realistic – adds Dellù -. They are useful for giving a greater perception of the physiognomies of individuals, their salient anatomical features. Muscles, skin thickness, expressions are difficult to reconstruct exactly. But the contribution of paleoartists contributes to making the skeletons “subjects” rather than “objects”, in short to giving them life again.”
