Approximating the Face of ‘Aunty’: A Question of Likeness

Abstract

This paper describes two approaches to the facial approximation of three individuals from the Wairau Bar burial site (New Zealand). Two individuals were approximated working in direct reference to the remains and incorporated manual drafting. The third individual, 'Aunty' (the respectful title given by the iwi Rangitane elders) was approximated from CT scans and using computer graphics. The computer graphic approach enabled a greater level of precision in the application of the research and recommendations that inform a facial approximation, and facilitated collaboration with appropriate expertise. The computer-graphic approach, however, also resulted in a more photographic facial appearance, which can imply a greater level of knowledge about hard/soft tissue relationships than is currently available.

The archaeological contribution of forensic craniofacial reconstruction to a portrait drawing of a Korean historical figure

“…Amongst recent studies on CFR in archaeological contexts, Wilkinson (2003b;2008;2011) Austria also reconstructed the face of Ferrante Gonzaga (1507-1557 CE), the Italian nobleman of the Renaissance period, using CT scanned data and virtual anthropological analysis from the embalmed body (Benazzi et al, 2010). Hayes et al (2012) produced three CFRs using the skulls excavated from the Wairau Bar burial site where the earliest colonists were buried in New Zealand. They also carried out a CFR on the skull of Homo floresiensis excavated from Liang Bua in Indonesia (Hayes et al, 2013).…”

Restitution or a Loss to Science? Understanding the Importance of Māori Ancestral Remains

“…It is important to highlight this relationship, which shows that by working together, there can be benefits for both parties; in this case, by answering questions about who the people were, how they lived, and where they came from. Information about the people who lived there, including what they looked like via facial reconstruction, brought the iwi literally face to face with their past (Hayes et al 2012). DNA research on the tūpuna from Wairau Bar has uncovered the fact that members of the living community are related to a number of the oldest remains present on the site (Knapp et al 2012).…”

Biological Anthropology in the Indo-Pacific Region: New Approaches to Age-Old Questions

“…As early coloniser sites in New Zealand are rare, there was a concerted effort for collaboration between archaeologists, biological anthropologists and the community at Wairau Bar, primarily because all parties recognise its importance. This collaborative approach involved multiple lines of biological research including palaeopathological , aDNA (Knapp et al, 2012), isotopic analyses (Kinaston et al, 2013c), and facial approximation (Hayes et al, 2012). The biological evidence was combined with analyses of material culture (Walter et al, 2006) and archaeozoological research relating to commensal and native species (Greig et al, 2015;Jacomb et al, 2014;Wilmshurst et al, 2008).…”