Forensic facial reconstruction
Forensic facial reconstruction is the process of recreating the face of an individual from their skeletal remains through an amalgamation of artistry, anthropology, osteology, and anatomy. It is easily the most subjective—as well as one of the most controversial—techniques in the field of forensic anthropology. Despite this controversy, facial reconstruction has proved successful frequently enough that research and methodological developments continue to be advanced.
In addition to identification of unidentified decedents, facial reconstructions are created for remains believed to be of historical value and for remains of prehistoric hominids and humans.
Types of identification
There are two forms pertaining to identification in forensic anthropology: circumstantial and positive.- Circumstantial identification is established when an individual fits the biological profile of a set of skeletal or largely skeletal remains. This type of identification does not prove or verify identity because any number of individuals may fit the same biological description.
- Positive identification, one of the foremost goals of forensic science, is established when a unique set of biological characteristics of an individual are matched with a set of skeletal remains. This type of identification requires the skeletal remains to correspond with medical or dental records, unique ante mortem wounds or pathologies, DNA analysis, and still other means.
Legal admissibility
In the U.S., the Daubert Standard is a legal precedent set in 1993 by the Supreme Court regarding the admissibility of expert witness testimony during legal proceedings, set in place to ensure that expert testimony is based on sufficient facts or data, derived from proper application of reliable principles and methods. When multiple forensic artists produce approximations for the same set of skeletal remains, no two reconstructions are ever the same and the data from which approximations are created are largely incomplete. Because of this, forensic facial reconstruction does not uphold the Daubert Standard, is not considered a legally recognized technique for positive identification, and is not admissible as expert testimony. Currently, reconstructions are only produced to aid the process of positive identification in conjunction with verified methods.Types of reconstructions
Two-dimensional reconstructions
Two-dimensional facial reconstructions are based on ante mortem photographs, and the skull. Occasionally skull radiographs are used but this is not ideal since many cranial structures are not visible or at the correct scale. This method usually requires the collaboration of an artist and a forensic anthropologist. A commonly used method of 2D facial reconstruction was pioneered by Karen T. Taylor of Austin, Texas during the 1980s. Taylor's method involves adhering tissue depth markers on an unidentified skull at various anthropological landmarks, then photographing the skull. Life-size or one-to-one frontal and lateral photographic prints are then used as a foundation for facial drawings done on transparent vellum. Recently developed, the F.A.C.E. and C.A.R.E.S. computer software programs quickly produce two-dimensional facial approximations that can be edited and manipulated with relative ease. These programs may help speed the reconstruction process and allow subtle variations to be applied to the drawing, though they may produce more generic images than hand-drawn artwork.Three-dimensional reconstructions
Three-dimensional facial reconstructions are either: 1.) sculptures high-resolution, three-dimensional computer images. Like two-dimensional reconstructions, three-dimensional reconstructions usually require both an artist and a forensic anthropologist. Computer programs create three-dimensional reconstructions by manipulating scanned photographs of the unidentified cranial remains, stock photographs of facial features, and other available reconstructions. These computer approximations are usually most effective in victim identification because they do not appear too artificial. This method has been adopted by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, which uses this method often to show approximations of an unidentified decedent to release to the public in hopes to identify the subject.Superimposition
Superimposition is a technique that is sometimes included among the methods of forensic facial reconstruction. It is not always included as a technique because investigators must already have some kind of knowledge about the identity of the skeletal remains with which they are dealing. Forensic superimpositions are created by superimposing a photograph of an individual suspected of belonging to the unidentified skeletal remains over an X-ray of the unidentified skull. If the skull and the photograph are of the same individual, then the anatomical features of the face should align accurately.Methods of reconstruction
Different versions of craniofacial reconstruction have been used in multiple disciplines over the span of its discovery. The technique is widely used to aid in forensic investigations by identifying victims of different crimes. Forensic experts use their knowledge of facial musculature and tissue attachments on the skull to recreate the identity of the victim. In order to do such, it is important to consider the appearance of the skull, its soft tissues attached as well as its corresponding scans. As stated above, Craniofacial Reconstruction was performed manually, using clay in 2D and 3D aspects. However, today, technology is able to assist in this reconstruction, with the help of 3 similar but different techniques; the Russian Method, the American Method and the Manchester Method.The Russian method of craniofacial reconstruction uses the musculature of the skull. This method uses a clay-like substance to recreate the musculature of the victim's skull and focuses on the insertion of the muscles to the skull. The American method of reconstruction, however, focuses on the overlying tissue of the skull. This method requires the facial tissue depth data recorded from previous remains or from live patients, using tissue puncture markers and/or ultrasounds. This technique can display the differences between the reconstruction of remains, based on factors such as race, sex, and age. The Manchester method is the most commonly used technique; it is a combination of the Russian and American methods, using the musculature of the skull as well as tissue depth markers and landmarks to execute the reconstruction.
History
in 1883 and Wilhelm His, Sr. in 1895, were the first to reproduce three-dimensional facial approximations from cranial remains. Most sources, however, acknowledge His as the forerunner in advancing the technique. His also produced the first data on average facial tissue thickness followed by Kollmann and Buchly who later collected additional data and compiled tables that are still referenced in most laboratories working on facial reproductions today.Facial reconstruction originated in two of the four major subfields of anthropology. In biological anthropology, they were used to approximate the appearance of early hominid forms, while in archaeology they were used to validate the remains of historic figures. In 1936, Rose Koller from the Natural History Museum in Vienna led a team of sculptors at the Smithsonian Institution's Anthropological Department in recreating likenesses of "ancient Austrians" from their skulls. Mikhail Gerasimov produced his first reconstructions of prehistoric Neanderthal and Java Man, in 1927 ; they are exhibited in the Irkutsk museum. Gerasimov learned to take a skull of early hominids and, by dint of elaborate measurements and anatomical research, to form a face that people would recognize, sometimes including the most common expression. It took a decade of studies and experiments to come close to individual portrait resolution quality of historical persons, however his first public work of this type is dated 1930 – the face of Maria Dostoyevskaya, mother of Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Gerasimov used paleo-anthropological facial reconstruction to estimate the appearance of ancient peoples
In 1932 he moved to Leningrad for a graduate study. There he experimented with several skulls to find out if he could reconstruct faces of racial types. In 1937–1939, he reconstructed three faces from skulls of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union — a Papuan, a Kazakh and a Khevsur Caucasian — and performed numerous forensic reconstructions for the NKVD. He received important public exposure by reconstructing the faces of Yaroslav I the Wise and Andrei Bogolyubsky.
Gerasimov described his method in detail in the book “Basics of Facial Reconstruction from the Skull" which was published in 1949, and also in the book "Reconstruction of the face from the skull", published in 1955. https://archive.org/details/1955_20210420
In 2004 it was for Dr. Andrew Nelson of the University of Western Ontario, Department of Anthropology that noted Canadian artist Christian Corbet created the first forensic facial reconstruction of an approximately 2,200-year-old mummy based on CT and laser scans. This reconstruction is known as the Sulman Mummy project.