Now you can meet and communicate with a Stone age man who lived some 10,000 years ago along the Danube river in eastern Serbia. By using archaeological, anthropological and DNA data and the newest technologies, a team of Serbian archaeologists lead by Sofija Stefanović managed to reconstruct his face and make 3D interactive biokinetic model. He can smile or jaw, get angry or even wink, depending on the behavior of the spectator. The model was presented yesterday at Serbia pavilion at World Expo 2020 exhibition in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The model was made based on skeletal remains of male individual from grave no. 69, at Lepenski Vir archaeological site from Mesolithic period, located in Eastern Serbia. He was buried in a specific “lotus“ position, characteristic for Lepenski vir culture, with crossed legs, and archaeologists assume that he was an important member of the community, possibly a shaman. This man lived some 8000 – 7500 years BC.

Based on the anthropological analysis we know that he was around 55 years old when he died, with height of 1,78 cm and weight of around 70 kilograms, and that his diet consisted mostly of fish. This is not surprising, since the Danube rive, Europe’s second largest, vas vital for Lepenski vir culture. Those people ate a lot of fish, and their art reflects their close connections with this river.

Data extracted from DNA and anthropological analysis, along with technologies developed for gaming industries (Metahuman and Unreal Engine), provided enough material for realistic reconstruction of the face and facial expressions. The skull was scanned and used for making 3D model, and facial expressions were developed based on analysis of hundreds of thousands different human faces, which provided statistical data for every expression based on range of the lips, thickness of the muscles...

Jugoslav Pendić scanned the skull, and Oscar Nielsen from Sweden made the phorensic reconstruction of the face. Jugoslav then scanned the face and made digital model of it. Movements of the model were developed by Milica Tomić, and Bojan Petrović analyzed teeth and jaws.

This man belonged to Lepenski vir culture, which flourished during Mesolithic period along the Danube river in present-day eastern Serbia and south-western Romania. People of this culture lived in planned settlements with houses and trapezoid-base sanctuaries, and necropolises indicating special burial rituals, monumental stone sculptures, earliest in Europe, and various items carved of bone and stone testify that they developed religious beliefs and practiced various cults and rituals. At the time of discovery, Lepenski Vir was an isolated phenomenon, which had not significantly changed since the Mesolithic period. Unlike other parts of Europe, where there is only scant evidence about Mesolithic, Lepenski Vir provides remains which allow a complete reconstruction of culture, art and society of that period. Members of this culture were the first to meet and live in piece with newcomers from the east who brought agriculture, domesticated animals and Neolithic to Europe.

From Archeoserbia (Facebook)