NCJ Number
218747
Date Published
January 2002
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article describes how to reconstruct the shape of a nose according to the skull.
Abstract
The two-dimensional reconstruction has three phases: (1) draw the profile of the skull in an orthogonal projection and the soft parts according to instructions; (2) add thickness of the soft parts and draw the outer contour of the nose and the position of the eye and ear; and (3) add eyebrows, hair, and beards, and adjust the features corresponding to the estimated age of the person. The materials used were four, well-preserved Old Slavonic skulls (two males and two females) dating from the 9th century A.D. Each skull was photographed and an accurate drawing of the left profile of each skull was completed with a dioptrograph. Nose reconstruction was completed using the following steps: (1) a line was drawn through the points nasion and prosthion; (2) a parallel line was drawn intersecting the foremost point on the nasal bone; (3) four to six equidistant parallel lines were drawn perpendicular to the second line; (4) the distance from the rim of aperture piriformis to the second and third lines were measured; and (5) the dots on the outer sections of the lines were connected with a curve. The mean thickness of the soft parts of the head and face were calculated and the most probable position of the eyeball and eyelid was estimated. Estimates were also calculated for the size and angle of the outer ear, the midline between the lips, the position of the mouth corners, and the form of the chin. This method of reconstruction followed the instructions of Galina Lebedinskaya, the successor of M. M. Gerasimov. Figures, table, references