A team of archaeologists working in Scotland in the 1990s discovered the 4,000-year-old skeletal remains of a young woman. She had been interred in a stone-lined cemetery while squatting. She was known as the Upper Largie Woman by archaeologists after the Upper Largie Quarry where she was discovered.

Now, a reconstruction of her possible appearance from the early Bronze Age has been made by an artist. The restored bust is presently on exhibit at the Kilmartin Museum in Scotland after her remains were meticulously reburied. According to Sandra Dick of the Herald, the museum reopened earlier this month following a three-year closure for a $8.4 million (£7 million) remodeling project.

Swedish artist and archaeologist Oscar Nilsson is the creator of the new reconstruction. In his portrayal, the woman has black, wavy hair that falls down her back and is braided in a little bun that is held in place by a thread close to her face. Her brow is slightly wrinkled as her amber eyes puzzle the viewer.

Nilsson frequently imagines that viewers of his reconstructions are peering into the world of a historical figure from the past, who is unaware of their presence. He chose to attempt turning that idea on its head in this instance, though: What if Upper Largie Woman was staring out at museum visitors?

“As you can see, she looks a bit critical to us (I don't blame her for that...)!” writes Nilsson in an email to Live Science’s Laura Geggel.

The bust has captured people's attention in the few weeks since the museum's reopening.

“The people who have already seen her are surprised,” says Sharon Webb, director and curator at the museum, to the London Times’ Mike Wade. “If you see a human skeleton in a museum, it might give you a sense of your own fleeting life, but when you look directly into the face of a person who lived in Kilmartin Glen 4,000 ago, and walked near here, the impact is altogether different.”

Nilsson started with a 3D-printed scan of the woman's head to produce the lifelike bust. Nilsson had to reconstruct her lower jaw and the left half of her cranium because they were both absent.

Then he thought about her gender, race, age, and weight. By examining her bones and teeth, archaeologists were able to infer that she passed away in her late 20s or early 30s after suffering from periods of disease or famine. She most likely spent her formative years in what is now Scotland and lived between 1500 and 2200 BCE.

Nilsson used this knowledge to attach pegs to the duplicate skull and start sculpting the woman's face tissue and muscles.

“For more than 100 years, there have been analyses made of tissue depth in the human face,” Nilsson tells the Times. “If I know the woman is from Scotland and of normal weight, 30 years old, I can search charts and tables for the context.”

The woman's burial also contained shards of Beaker pottery, which suggests she may have been a member of the Beaker civilization, which is distinguished by its bell-shaped pottery. Around 2400 B.C.E., this culture probably developed in Central Europe before spreading to modern-day Britain. Beaker people quickly took control, displacing the Neolithic settlements and other inhabitants.

“The carbon dating suggests she might be a descendant of the first Beaker newcomers,” Webb tells Live Science.

Nilsson had to make educated assumptions about the complexion, hair, and eye colors of Upper Largie Woman because archaeologists were unable to extract any DNA from her skeleton. She had a big, slightly raised nose, a broad mouth, a rounded forehead, and wide-set eyes, according to his analysis of her skull. "Some might even say there's a passing resemblance to Spice Girl Victoria Beckham," the Herald says.

Among the numerous fascinating archaeological finds uncovered nearby is Upper Largie Woman. According to the Times, archaeologists have discovered more than 800 structures that date back thousands of years within six miles of the museum. Additionally, they have found more than 22,000 items.