Recreating the face of a Canarian woman from 1500 years ago
On Monday, the first facial reconstruction of one of the old canaries was presented to the public. The Canarian Government, the Canary Museum and the Tibicena archeology company have collated a large amount of genetic and historical data to give features to the skull ‘Humiaga, 977’, dated from the 6th century.
The artistic recreation of the face, guided by forensic criteria, has discovered behind that skull a woman with dark skin and eyes, a thick nose and a wide scar on her forehead. The image does not resemble, they affirm, those described by the first chronicles of colonization. The braids and clothing used in the reconstruction derive from the explanatory documents that are preserved.
It is impossible to know who this woman was, however, the works have shed some light on it. The scar on his forehead is the product of a strong blow, his jaw was deformed by decay and when she died she was not thirty years old.
It can also be inferred from the area of her discovery that she was a woman of important lineage. The inhabitants of the island visited the upper area of Humiaga to perform pagan rites. If she, and three others were buried there, while the rest of the inhabitants are divided by the ravine, it means that they were pre-eminent subjects.
