An early shipwreck skeleton from the 17th century was initially mistaken for being male. However, a fresh reconstruction, based on findings from a DNA investigation conducted earlier this year, identifies her as female.
The new reconstruction shows Gertrude wearing a gray jacket and red hat, as pieces of these items were found by her skeleton on the Vasa shipwreck in Sweden. (Image credit: Oscar Nilsson)
Nearly 20 skeletons were found when the Vasa, a 17th-century Swedish warship that sank in Stockholm harbor on her maiden voyage, was raised by experts in the 1960s. One of the remains, designated G, was identified by scientists as belonging to a man they called Gustav.
Genetic testing earlier this year revealed that G was a woman instead of a man. Now, a fresh reconstruction of G, now known as Gertrude, shows what she looked like before the fatal 1628 disaster.
She was between 25 and 30 years old when she passed away, Oscar Nilsson, a forensic artist based in Sweden who made the reconstruction, told Live Science in an email. Her eyes were blue, her hair was blonde, and her complexion was pale. According to the new genetic data.
The size of Gertrude's mastoid process indicated that she had larger than usual ears. (Image credit: Oscar Nilsson)
When Nilsson discovered that G was female after creating a reconstruction of Gustav in 2006, he was taken aback. Nevertheless, he was happy to right the record by creating a fresh reconstruction for the Stockholm Vasa Museum.
He pointed out that G's sex shows she was wed. Only married women who were also living with a male on board the ship were permitted to travel on this inaugural journey, according to documented sources.
Nilsson expanded on the 2006 reconstruction's CT scan and 3D plastic print of G's skull by calculating the thickness of Gertrude's tissue using data from contemporary Scandinavian and North European women who were roughly the same age and weight as Gertrude.
These tissue measurements helped him determine the placement of the pegs on the replica skull, which he utilized as a reference as he overlaid plasticine clay muscles on her head. The size and shape of the nose, eyes, and mouth were determined using scientific methods. The size and surface of the mastoid process, which is positioned behind the ears, are quite important, according to Nilsson: "The ears are more speculative." "A huge ear equals a big mastoid process. Additionally, Gertrude unquestionably has noticeable mastoid structures.
This 2006 reconstruction of G's skeleton shows Gustav, a 45-year-old man. (Image credit: Oscar Nilsson)
Although he was "careful of trying to give her an expression as close to Gustav's as possible," there are some changes between the two reconstructions. Prior to the latest cranial examination, Nilsson had tipped Gustav's nose downward, giving Gertrude a more conventional-looking nose. Gustav was also believed to be 45 years old. Gertrude is younger, so "I provided her with more volume in her lips," he remarked.
Gertrude likely had a difficult life despite her youth; a skeletal examination of her back shows that she frequently moved large objects. So, he remarked, "just by being 25 to 30, her face must give the impression of hard work."
As a result, Nilsson sculpted her face to depict a woman who had endured arduous work but was also conscious of the awful event that had led to her demise.
The skeleton of G, who was previously called Gustav until a genetic analysis revealed the absence of a Y chromosome, which almost all men carry. G's new nickname is Gertrude. (Image credit: Oscar Nilsson)
As bits of this clothing were discovered with her bones, Nilsson collaborated with Anna Silwerulv, a textile expert at the Vasa Museum, to clothe the reconstruction in a dark gray jacket and hat. According to a microscopic examination, the hat was vivid crimson. "And the original design was striking: a very high hat, reminding [us] of the traditional festive dressing of the Swedish peasantry, and the Samic ones as well," remarked Nilsson. (Indigenous people known as the Sami live in Sweden.)
Gertrude's gravity was "further enhanced when Anna and I put the bright red tall hat on Gertrude's head." Nilsson remarked, "I leave that to all visitors to the museum," when asked what Gertrude is contemplating in this restoration.
When the new "Face to Face" exhibition at the Vasa Museum debuts in roughly a year, Gertrude, who went on display there on June 28, will be the center of attention.
