# Post Mortem Facial Reconstruction **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 31, 2007, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-mortem-facial-reconstruction/390303 "2007-01-31T19:11:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bootis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2007, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-mortem-facial-reconstruction/390303/1 "2007-01-31T19:11:11Z")
Recently I read somewhere that the skull of King Tut was scanned and special software reconstructed the mans face into what they claimed was an accurate portrayal of what he looked like. The resulting image I recall was very life like.I was wondering if this technology has been used on more recent skulls, where there exists real photographic evidence to compare the accuracy of the results? ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2007, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-mortem-facial-reconstruction/390303/2 "2007-01-31T19:19:22Z")
Forensic anthropologists often make facial reconstructions based around casts of the skulls of unknown crime victims, both computer models and actual sculptures. [Forensic facial reconstruction](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_facial_reconstruction) [More from crimelibrary](http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_mind/forensics/anthropology/4.html) ---
**Author:** ![Bootis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2007, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-mortem-facial-reconstruction/390303/3 "2007-01-31T19:31:14Z")
Ah thanks, was looking specifically for reconstruction images compared to actual photos, found some by adding the term ‘forensic’ to the search ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2007, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-mortem-facial-reconstruction/390303/4 "2007-01-31T20:55:35Z")
The basics are that give a known racial profile (also determinable from the features ON the skull), they use “standard thicknesses” of muscle, fat, etc. over the skull at certain points, then fill in the gaps. From this you can get a fairly accurate analysis of what they looked like prior to decomposition. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2007, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-mortem-facial-reconstruction/390303/5 "2007-01-31T22:17:32Z")
please link to your results ---
**Author:** ![Bootis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-mortem-facial-reconstruction/390303/6 "2007-02-02T22:46:04Z")
sorry, heres a link: [http://www.fbi.gov/hq/lab/fsc/backissu/jan2001/phillips.htm](http://www.fbi.gov/hq/lab/fsc/backissu/jan2001/phillips.htm) It only shows comparisons of clay models,I still would like to see how accurate computer scans are, but there seems to be nothin on this. Maybe its not all that accurate? (the final woman in the link above is pretty close, interesting that they nailed her hairdo too) ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-mortem-facial-reconstruction/390303/7 "2007-02-03T01:50:45Z")
thanks. I have seen some on TV. I must say that police men see the world through different eyes. They get good IDs from models and sketches I would never had said were even close to the actual person. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-mortem-facial-reconstruction/390303/8 "2007-02-03T03:32:37Z")
Here’s a link to an article on the [Tutankhamun reconstruction](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/05/0511_050511_kingtutface.html), with a picture of one of the reconstructions. They gave the CT scans to three different teams - two knew who the subject was, and the third team didn’t. Apparently all three teams produced very similar reconstructions. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-mortem-facial-reconstruction/390303/9 "2007-02-03T03:45:13Z")
And in related news, the team that did the CT scan [appears to have found Tut’s missing penis](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/03/0308_050308_kingtutmurder_2.html), which must be a relief to his _ka_. He’s in the afterlife, and he’s got all those nymphets that entertain Pharaoh-gods who died young, and he’s, like, going, “Dude! where’s my penis!” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![LorieSmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@LorieSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LorieSmurf)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-mortem-facial-reconstruction/390303/10 "2007-02-03T05:37:02Z")
What’s up with King Tut’s weird shaped skull. Looks like he’s got a conehead. Did ancient Egyptians shape their heads?? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-mortem-facial-reconstruction/390303/11 "2007-02-03T05:49:44Z")
The same odd shape shows up in the art work representing the Pharaoh Akenaten, who may have been Tut’s father or uncle. There’s some thought that it was an unusual, hereditary formation of the skull. ---
**Author:** ![kimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f0a364/32.png) [@kimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kimera)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-mortem-facial-reconstruction/390303/12 "2007-02-03T05:54:59Z")
In art class, they said that they purposely shaped the skulls that way to represent the God-like qualities or something. There have been a couple other cultures where they used boards or bandages to change the shape of the skull.