See what our distant ancestors really looked like. Our ancestors are the ancient Slavs

3D technologies have made it possible to recreate the appearance of people who lived a long time ago based on their remains. Recently, scientists have reconstructed the appearances of the Peruvian queen of the forgotten Moche kingdom, the ancient Greek “griffin” warrior, the medieval Scottish highlanders, the ancient Egyptian aristocrat and another ancient Egyptian woman, as well as the victim of Vesuvius. The publication “My Planet” talked about these reconstructions.

Señora de Cao is the ruler of the Moche people.

Scientists in Peru have used 3D printing to reconstruct the face of a powerful ancient ruler known as Señora de Cao. The woman, as it was established, had an oval face with high cheekbones - a look characteristic of many modern Peruvians.

She was a member of the Moche nobility who lived in northern Peru 1,700 years ago. The tattooed mummy of the “Señora” was discovered in 2006 in the ruins of the Huaca Cao Vieja pyramid near the city of Trujillo. Her legs and face were tattooed magical symbols snakes and spiders.

Researchers had previously established that the woman died at the age of 20, possibly in childbirth or as a result of complications during pregnancy. The rich decoration of the grave suggested that Senora de Cao was a powerful priestess or even a political leader.

"Griffin Warrior" who died 3500 years ago.

Scientists from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg (South Africa) using computer modeling have reconstructed the appearance of the “griffin warrior” who died in 1500 BC. e.

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The burial of a warrior was found in Greece in 2015 during excavations ancient city Pylos near the ruins of the legendary palace of Nestor, who led a contingent of Greek military forces in Homer's Iliad. Of the things found, the ivory tablet with the image of a griffin attracted particular attention. In this regard, archaeologists called the found man a griffin warrior.

Restoring the warrior’s appearance was not an easy task; in the end, experts saw a man 30-35 years old with a wide beautiful face, “square” jaw and powerful neck.

Items found in the tomb suggest that the person buried belonged to the elite.

Ancient Egyptian official.

An international team of researchers has reconstructed the face and brain of a 3,500-year-old Egyptian mummy, simultaneously discovering a unique embalming technique.

Before “resurrecting” the mummy, scientists believed that it was once the Egyptian dignitary Nebiri, who lived during the reign of Thutmose III (1479−1425 BC). Nebiri became famous two years ago when he was given an unusual diagnosis - the oldest case of chronic heart failure. In life he was a man with a prominent nose, a wide jaw, straight eyebrows and moderately full lips.

A young but ancient Egyptian woman.

Scientists from the University of Melbourne (Australia) reconstructed the girl's appearance based on the head of a mummy kept in the collection of the University of Melbourne Museum.

The girl received the name Meritamon, meaning “beloved of the god Amon.” Scientists believe she died between the ages of 18 and 25. The Egyptian woman's height was about 162 cm: she was quite tall for women of those times.

Meritamon's teeth were severely damaged during her lifetime, suggesting that she lived when sugar became popular in Egypt. However, it is possible that honey is to blame for the deplorable condition of teeth. The girl's body was wrapped in linen bandages, suggesting the high status of her family.

In addition to problems with teeth, Meritamon also suffered from other diseases, which drove her into the coffin, if one can say so about the ancient Egyptians. Scientists have discovered signs of anemia, presumably caused by malaria pathogens, which affected the inhabitants of the Nile Delta in ancient times.

Currently, scientists do not rule out that the Egyptian beauty may be about 3,500 years old.

Killed during the eruption of Vesuvius.

Scientists have recreated the face of a 50-year-old resident of Herculaneum (near Pompeii), who died as a result of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. To reconstruct the face, it was necessary to photograph the skull more than 150 times using a 3D camera with different angles. The lack of teeth in the skull seriously complicated the matter; scientists used images of dentures from a virtual volunteer donor with similar skull data.

Medieval warriors from a Scottish crypt.

Scientists have reconstructed the appearance of four Scots who lived in the Middle Ages in a village on the island of Cramond near Edinburgh. The bodies were buried in one crypt. Researchers believe that all four were related and had noble origins.

The appearance of four people so far has been restored: two men and two women.

According to the analysis, people lived back in the 6th century. DNA analysis also showed that representatives of different generations one family.

Researchers are inclined to believe that all the dead were warriors. One of the women died as a result of serious head injuries, and two men also died from their wounds. Judging by the place and method of burial, the dead were of noble birth.

Several reconstructions of the appearance of famous historical figures are also known.

Tamerlane

On June 22, 1941, the expedition of the Russian anthropologist Mikhail Gerasimov (1907−1970) opened the grave of the Samarkand conqueror Tamerlane, after which a long study began. Superstitious people consider this fact barbaric and the cause of the Great Patriotic War, but Gerasimov himself saw this as luck, and considered the reconstruction of Tamerlane’s image to be his best work.

Cleopatra

IN mass consciousness Egyptian queen Cleopatra - beautiful woman Caucasian race. However, Egyptologist from the University of Cambridge Sally Ann Ashton claims that by the time she came to power, Cleopatra’s family had already lived in Egypt for 300 years, which means that Egyptian and Greek blood was mixed in her, and her skin tone was dark. The basis for the three-dimensional reconstruction was the surviving ancient images of the Egyptian queen and an analysis of her genealogy. The computer-generated image of a dark, friendly woman does not really fit in with the image of the fatal beauty who was the lover of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.

Nicholas the Wonderworker

Scottish anthropologist Caroline Wilkinson, a professor at the University of Dundee, recreated the appearance of St. Nicholas, who is revered in Russia as Nicholas the Wonderworker, and in the West is considered the prototype of Santa Claus.

Before finding out what the inhabitants looked like Ancient Rome, you need to clearly understand that the population of the Roman Empire - not one people, not two - consisted of hundreds of different ethnic groups who had their own culture and fashion for clothing. It should also be understood that all people in Rome did not belong to the same social class. Roman society was divided into at least free people(citizens of the Roman Empire), and slaves. Among the citizens there were: patricians and plebeians, warriors and merchants and many others. Each of these layers had a different way of life, they had different housing, diet and, of course, appearance - that is, clothing.

People of Ancient Rome: appearance

Outerwear:
Free people of Rome wore a toga; foreigners and slaves did not have the right to wear this robe. Wealthy people, mostly patricians, could afford togas. The toga was often worn for special occasions, such as holidays and political events.
Most citizens are made of wool and flax. There were men's and women's tunics. For men, such attire reached to the very knees, while soldiers, for example, wore shorter tunics, and for women their length reached the ankles.
The paludamentum was worn by soldiers; this robe was a type of cloak, its length reached to the ankles.

Underwear:
in the empire two tunics were worn, one of which served underwear. Women also wore breastbands, which served as nothing more than a bra. Men wore loincloths, but more often they also began to use two tunics.
The legs were tied with bandages made of wool and linen. Trousers were not worn then; it was a barbaric custom.
Slave clothing:
Slaves also wore a short-sleeved tunic, its quality was significantly worse than that of Roman citizens. Slaves often did not wear shoes, with the exception of the northern regions of the Roman Empire.
Appearance soldier:
The soldiers of the legion were dressed differently than everyone else, they wore plastic armor over their tunics, they also had leather armor lined with steel plates, and the heavily armed wore armor. There was a steel helmet on his head, and strong sandals - kaligi - were worn on his feet.
In addition to armor, soldiers constantly carried weapons: a sword - gladius, a shield - scutum, a dagger - pugio. In total, the weight of the warrior’s equipment reached about 30 kg!
Thus, it can be concluded that people of ancient rome looked different, all due to the social status of the resident and his type of activity.

The characteristics given to the Celts by ancient writers are somewhat schematic, but undoubtedly reflect the actual Celtic character traits.

The Celts (Gauls) were often described as people tall, with blue eyes, fair skin and brown hair. But anthropologists who studied skeletons from La Tène burial grounds claim that the appearance of the ancient Celts was much more varied. Some Celts wore beards and long hair, others shaved, leaving drooping or wildly curled mustaches, while others wore makeup or used special solutions to fix their hairstyles.

Great value in Celtic culture was given to hryvnias (Celtic “torques”) - special metal hoops which were worn around the neck. Luxuriously decorated gold hryvnias indicated the high social status of the owner. Towards the end of the La Tène culture, torcs are no longer found in graves, but are known in treasures; their images are preserved on coins, metal or stone figures of gods and heroes. Apparently these things were played special role in the religious rites and beliefs of the Celts.

Like some other peoples of antiquity, important place The life of the Celts was dominated by feasts. The invitees were seated and food was served to them in strict accordance with social status everyone. Bards praised the hosts and high-ranking guests. Sometimes competitions were held at the feast. The winner received a tasty portion of meat - ham. The remains of this part of a pig or boar carcass are found in the graves of warriors, and sometimes even aristocratic women. In general, Celtic cuisine was predominantly meat-based, and the abundance of food was valued more than its delicacy. During meals they used a small iron knife, hung it from their belt and always carried it with them.

In ancient times, many would describe something like this: an elderly man with long hair in a white shirt. However, this is not entirely true. There are many versions of what the Slavs looked like. Theme of them appearance very interesting, so it deserves more detailed study.

Habitat of Slavic tribes

The Slavs have lived since ancient times in the central part of Europe, in the Carpathian region and in the Carpathian region. According to one version, the advance to the eastern part occurs in the period from the 5th to the 7th centuries AD. If you listen to another, you can hear the version that in Eastern Europe The Slavs were in this part of Europe. There were three in total large groups: eastern, western and southern. Pagan beliefs determined not only the spirituality of the Slavs, but also their appearance.

It is impossible to say for sure what the Eastern Slavs looked like. A huge number of tribes lived in this territory. These are such as Vyatichi, Volynians, Krivichi, Radimichi, Croats, Polochans and many others. Each of them had its own characteristics. Among the general things, one can note the fact that the clothes did not have complex details, but the external design was always under special attention. Various patterns, ornaments, and figures were embroidered on fabrics. Used for decorations various types. They wore bast shoes on their feet. Loose linen shirts were worn under outerwear. The richer a person was, the more clothes he wore. Differences could be in the color of the preferred fabric, size, shape and number of decorations, and methods of weaving bast shoes. We can definitely say that the way the ancient Slavs looked was influenced by the surrounding nature, the way of life and lifestyle of the tribes, as well as their neighbors - the Scythians and Sarmatians.

Are there any similarities with the Vikings?

Some historians categorically reject the image that appears to us of a long-haired man with a beard. It's less like what the ancient Slavs looked like and more like the Vikings.

In their opinion, the Slavs opposed cutting hair on the head and shaving the beard.
The Scandinavians took this look from religious traditions. The Slavs in those days lived on the Baltic coast. Unlike the Vikings, they shaved carefully and cut their hair very short all over their heads, leaving a forelock on their forehead. And the wise men walked with long hair. The Slavs ridiculed the appearance of Scandinavian men. Scientists are trying to determine what the Slavs looked like from the skeletons they found. Thanks to these finds, descendants have the opportunity to become familiar with the jewelry, clothing and accessories used by the ancient Slavs. Similarities with Scandinavian outfits can be seen in women's hair jewelry and hats.

Appearance of Slavic women

At all times, Slavic women used multi-layered clothing. Moreover, different costumes were intended for each event. Appearance also depended on the woman's age. A shirt with wide sleeves was always worn over the body. The closer to our time, the more the appearance of the Slavs became filled with luxury. Clothes became more varied. The head was covered with various headdresses. From ribbons to unusually shaped hats. Women decorated their outfits with beads, which were bright and hung on their chests in several rows. All the clothes were long, almost down to the heels. It was decorated with sewn ribbons, small frills and braid. They also loved to wear large earrings and rings.

Men's Slavic costume

The men wore long shirts - vests. They were wrapped and belted with a belt. The shirts did not have fasteners; some of them were worn on top. Winter clothing was made from the fur of various animals. These include sheepskin coats and mittens. The pants were wide, they were tied at the waist and at the bottom. Wealthy people had several such pants. In winter, woolen ones were worn over canvas ones. Shoes for men and women were made from canvas. They wrapped the legs and attached the sole with straps. The boots were made from a whole piece of leather.

All clothes had embroidery. Over time, it became more and more.

Hairstyles of the ancient Slavs

Hair and hairstyles occupied a special place in the life of the ancient Slavs. One could judge by the hairstyle social status person. They cut their hair ritually, observing traditions. This had to be done at a certain period of life. Boys' hair was not allowed to grow long and was cut quite often.

For this reason, the girls needed to grow them, diligently monitor them, caring for them with the help of plant components. Girls wore one or two braids.

As boys grew older, they grew a longer forelock. The rest of the head was cut very short. The forelock was a special attribute. The young man was proud of him, sometimes he twisted him. Adult men most often wore a circle haircut. It is also called “under the pot.” It was with the help of this attribute that a similar hairstyle was made. For Eastern Slavs this was also generally accepted.

It is impossible to say reliably what the Slavs looked like. One thing that is certain is that their clothes were comfortable and spacious, regardless of the era.

In traditional history books they write this about the appearance of the Egyptians: “The first prehistoric people who inhabited these regions belonged to the Mediterranean race. They were slender, even thin, with slightly elongated heads and dark curly hair. Later they mixed with nomadic tribes that came from Palestine. This is how the ethnic type of Egyptian arose: of medium height, with a large head, strong bones and especially strong wrists and ankles.

Representatives of this original type are still found today among peasants in remote areas of Egypt. “The physical type of the Egyptian was formed as a result of thousands of years of mixing of various tribes forced into the Nile Valley. The Egyptians were tall, had a dense figure, broad straight shoulders, a wide face, a thickish straight nose, and a low forehead. They had dark skin, blue-black straight hair and thick eyelashes, black almond-shaped eyes. What is the main evidence for us of what the ancient Egyptians looked like?

1. Images on the walls of temples and tombs.

“We know very well what the Egyptians of the dynastic period looked like. Many painted flat reliefs present them to us as people of average height, broad shoulders, slender, with black straight hair (often a wig); in accordance with tradition, images of Egyptian men are always painted in brick color, women - yellowish. ”

There is one caveat to this quote. It is obvious that the portraits of Egyptians that we find in tombs and on the walls of temples are mostly idealized. Artists and sculptors followed only a certain canon of image, developed at the dawn of Egyptian civilization and held for thousands of years: hence the accepted image of women with light skin and men with darker skin, but this does not mean that this was actually the case. Further, regarding straight hair: Egyptians were usually depicted in wigs or with shaved heads, so it is difficult to judge what kind of real hair they had from frescoes and sculptures.
Faces and figures were also standardized, although artists and sculptors sometimes deviated from the canons, depicting, for example, full bellies and elongated heads, or faces that were more realistic.
But still, the frescoes can give us a certain image of the ethnic type of the Egyptian. It appears in comparison with the images of Egypt’s neighbors, which we also often come across on the walls of temples and tombs.
There are also numerous images of representatives of the tribes and peoples that the inhabitants of the Nile Valley most often encountered. We see the Egyptians' western neighbors - the light-skinned, blue-eyed Libyans; their eastern neighbors, immigrants from Western Asia, are tall, with yellowish dark skin, a convex nose and abundant facial hair, with constant characteristic beards; Southerners, inhabitants of Nile Ethiopia, or Nubia, appear dark purple. Black, curly-headed representatives of the Negroid tribes of South Sudan can be found on the reliefs.

The following picture clearly illustrates this: This picture clearly shows the skin color of the Egyptians - bronze-golden and classic black hair color. That is, we can assume that they were neither white nor black, like their neighbors, but were something in between in skin color. In most frescoes, Egyptians are depicted with precisely this “brick” skin color. Even if it is canon, I don't think it came out of nowhere.

2. Evidence from historians

How did representatives of other nations see the Egyptians? We can learn this from the writings of the Greek historian Herodotus. There is a mention of their appearance in his “History”.

Herodotus compares the Egyptians, Ethiopians and Colchians. He suggests that these peoples are related, based on the fact that they are similar to each other. Herodotus writes that both are dark-skinned (μελαγχροες) and curly-haired (ουλοτριχες).

Here is this passage that mentions the Egyptians:

After all, the Colchians are apparently Egyptians: I understood this myself even before I heard it from others. Having become interested in this, I began to ask [about this relationship] both in Colchis and in Egypt. The Colchians retained clearer memories of the Egyptians than the Egyptians did of the Colchians. However, the Egyptians told me that, in their opinion, the Colchians trace their origins to the soldiers of the Sesostris army. I myself came to the same conclusion because they are dark-skinned with curly hair. However, this still does not prove anything. After all, there are other peoples of the same kind. The following arguments are much more compelling.

We see that the images of the Egyptians and the memories of Herodotus in general outline match up. This is how most people imagine them.

3. Sculptures

In connection with the belief that preserving the image of the deceased makes him immortal, the Egyptians made, in addition to the canonical idealized sculptural images, either completely or partially realistic portraits contemporaries. As a rule, these are portraits of august persons. They give us a more specific picture of the external appearance of the Egyptians.

Plaster mask of an elderly man, possibly Eie ( Egyptian Museum, Berlin)

Plaster mask. Akhenaten. (Egyptian Museum, Berlin)

Queen Hatshepsut (a very interesting detail - she was depicted everywhere with such a nose)

Scribe statue.

These seem to be the most realistic sculptures. The faces are very interesting, it’s even difficult to say what race they belong to.

4. Reconstructions based on mummies

Computer reconstruction using the skulls of mummies also helps us see the appearance of the ancient Egyptians. Of course, it does not convey facial features one hundred percent, but it is still quite reliable. Here's what we managed to dig up on the Internet: as a rule, these are reconstructions of the faces of famous Egyptian rulers.

Tutankhamun:

(in profile it is clear that he has a slightly elongated skull. This is how he was depicted both on frescoes and in sculpture. His father Akhenaten and his daughters had the same elongated skulls, which led many mystification lovers to believe that Akhenaten’s entire family – ALIENS….)))))

here is another famous person - Akhenaten’s wife Nefertiti (however, scientists argue about whether the mummy from which her portrait was restored belonged to Nefertiti or someone else)

Cleopatra (though she is not exactly Egyptian, but still one of the famous rulers of Egypt)

CT image of the skull (left) and a recreation of the artisan Harva (right)

5. Descendants of the ancient Egyptians

Well, finally, their descendants can give us an idea of ​​the ancient Egyptians. Most believe that the direct descendants of the Egyptians are Copts. Copts are the Christian population of Egypt. “Copt” actually translates as “Egyptian”.

Copts differ from other residents of Egypt in appearance - they are very careful about the purity of their blood and take only Coptians or Europeans as wives. Therefore, they retained the ancient Egyptian straight profile. They make up about 7% of Egypt's population and live side by side with the Muslim majority, and call God Allah. And churches in Egypt stand almost next to mosques.”

It is almost impossible to distinguish Copts from Arabs on the street. At least at first glance. However, there are differences. First of all, they can be distinguished by the tattoo on their right hand. In general, Copts are more attractive. Let no one be accused of chauvinism, but it is so. Arabs are rougher and “plumper”. Copts, on the other hand, have more noble and refined facial features. There are many very beautiful Coptic girls. Well, the spitting image of Nefertiti! Like on a picture:

And yet we do not think that only Copts can be considered direct descendants of the pharaohs. One Coptic priest said about the modern population of Egypt: “We are all Copts, only some are Christians, and others are Muslims.” We think that the current population of Egypt is alien and consists of Arabs. Apparently, we think this way because modern Egyptians practically do not speak the original Coptic language, which was the successor to the Egyptian language itself. But consider that indigenous people Egypt was so driven out by the Arabs that most of it simply disappeared, which would be untrue.

Gustave Le Bon in his book “The Civilization of the Arabs” writes about the Arabs of Egypt:

“Modern Egyptian Arabs are the product of interbreeding between the local population and the Arabs who conquered Egypt in 640. under the leadership of Amru. While Arabs by language and religion, modern Egyptians are not Arabs by blood. By virtue of the anthropological laws mentioned above, the conquering element was soon dissolved in the larger element represented by the conquered population.

The intermediate elements soon disappeared, so that the modern settled inhabitant of Egypt is essentially the son of the Egyptians of the pyramidal times. This can be seen in his figure, his broad shoulders, thick lips, prominent cheekbones, and his similarity to the characters depicted on ancient monuments.”