Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com – Using DNA evaluation and trendy forensic strategies, scientists have reconstructed the face of a Stone Age boy who lived in Norway.
The Vistegutten – the boy from Viste died at solely 14 years previous. Why he ended his life so early is unknown as a result of it appears he was wholesome.
You can now see the complete reconstructed determine of Vistegutten at a brand new everlasting exhibition in Jæren. Oscar Nilsson has geared up him with a fishing spear and a fishing hook. (Photo: Oscar Nilsson)
“The younger boy was buried within the small Vistehola, a cave situated slightly north of Stavanger in southwestern Norway. The similar little cave that his dad and mom could have lived in.
He is the best-preserved individual from the Stone Age in Norway,” Science in Norway reviews.
“I spend most of my day working with skeletons of ancient people,” archaeologist Sean Denham on the Museum of Archaeology in Stavanger says.
“But seeing a living person in front of me in this way is something completely different. Oscar Nilsson has done a fantastic job with this new reconstruction.”
“Denham can also be completely happy concerning the elevated curiosity within the Stone Age in Rogaland and Norway that the museum, in collaboration with sculptor and archaeologist Nilsson, has now managed to realize with this reconstruction.
Fish and nuts
During an archaeological excavation of Vistehola in 1907, researchers discovered the boy’s stays.
He was solely 125 centimeters tall.
Vistehola is situated 10 kilometres northwest of Stavanger metropolis centre. This is among the most well-known settlements from the Stone Age in Norway. Here, the skeleton of Vistegutten was discovered throughout an archaeological excavation in 1907. New strategies have made it doable to extract DNA from the skeleton. (Photo: Jarle Vines / Wikimedia)
With the assistance of latest analysis strategies, the researchers know that the boy has eaten as a lot meals from the ocean as from land. Cod, seal, and wild boar had been on the menu for many who lived close to the seaside at Jæren. So had been shellfish and nuts.
Even for a Stone Age man, Vistegutten was small in stature. Adult males from the Stone Age in Norway had been most likely 165-170 centimeters tall. The ladies could have been 145-155 centimeters tall.
Both sexes had sturdy physiques, the indicators of which will be seen in Vistegutten as nicely. Eyes and cheekbones had been typically fairly outstanding in folks in Norway on the time.
The boy was most likely pretty dark-skinned.
Face form, pores and skin and hair
“For a while, there was some doubt about whether this was a girl or a boy. But with the help of DNA analysis, we can now say with certainty that Vistegutten was a boy,” Denham says.
The reconstruction Oscar Nilsson has made is predicated on DNA evaluation. It additionally builds on a undertaking from 2011, the place researchers on the University of Dundee in Scotland scanned the cranium of Vistegutten with a laser, and created a 3D mannequin of his head.
Life at Jæren was most likely good when Vistegutten lived there. The panorama was coated in deciduous forests with wild boars, moose and deer. The boy has additionally eaten numerous meals from the ocean. The local weather was milder than as we speak and attracted folks from the south to Norway. Examinations of the skeleton inform us that Vistegutten didn’t have any severe sicknesses. He hasn’t starved both. When he died, he was buried underneath the household’s ‘front room ground’ contained in the small cave. It should imply that they wished to have the little boy near them after he was lifeless. (Photo: Oscar Nilsson)
“The DNA analysis that was carried out later, tells us more about the shape of his head,” Denham says. “We are a little more uncertain about his skin color, hair color, and the color of his eyes. So here we rely on the other finds we have of Stone Age people in Norway.”
The common lifespan within the Old Stone Age was not very excessive. This was largely on account of the truth that so many younger kids died. When folks first reached maturity, residing to be over 50 years previous was common.
We do not know why Vistegutten died so younger.
Written by Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com Staff Writer
