Facial reconstruction of Robert the Bruce

[Duncan Head]

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/liverpool-scientists-help-reveal-face-12292885#ICID=nsm

Or of someone, anyway:

The experts used a cast of what is believed to be the Scottish king's skull, which belongs to the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow, to determine the shape and structure of his face.

[Erpingham]

The BBC coverage adds

The King's Head - the documentary following the reconstruction from start to finish - will be screened on BBC ALBA on 15 December 15 at 20:30

[Imperial Dave]

I sometimes find these reconstructions a bit hit and miss but this one looks quite realistic from a 'real person' perspective.

[Patrick Waterson]

I think Caroline Wilkinson is improving: some of her earlier efforts looked remarkably like Caroline Wilkinson.  This one does not.

Interesting that the skull shows signs of leprosy.  The Bruce was said by a number of chroniclers to have suffered from leprosy from c.1327, and was being carried in a litter as of 1328.  Might be a point in favour of the authenticity and correct identification of the skull.

[Erpingham]

I think Caroline Wilkinson is improving: some of her earlier efforts looked remarkably like Caroline Wilkinson.  This one does not.

Interesting that the skull shows signs of leprosy.  The Bruce was said by a number of chroniclers to have suffered from leprosy from c.1327, and was being carried in a litter as of 1328.  Might be a point in favour of the authenticity and correct identification of the skull.

It is one of the things that has been said to suggest the skull was the Bruce.  I recall being shown slides of the skull in a palaeopathology lecture 35 years ago and having the signs of leprosy on it pointed out.  The missing front teeth and the remodelling of the bone in the area of that area and the nose is the only one I remember after this time.

I do remember it triggered an anecdote from our lecturer about using the slide at a public lecture and afterwards a Scottish lady stormed up to him asking how dare he insult Robert the Bruce.  He replied "Madam, there is no shame in having leprosy. Henry VIII had syphilis".  Which goes to show how an anecdote in a lecture can fix some of the content down the decades

[Erpingham]

I watched the documentary on the head reconstruction on BBC Alba.  Fortunately, it had subtitles.  Even more fortunately, it featured Caroline Wilkinson talking in English a lot.  Some interesting discussion on the identity of the skull (it could also be David I apparently).  Quite a discussion on whether the skull shows healed wounds.  Like the leprosy question, it is uncertain because the cast doesn't give the detail of the bone surface well enough to be sure.  A healed cut to the skull mentioned in some accounts does not seem to be there ( a misunderstanding of a natural groove in the surface). Some discussion whether the Bruce was a redhead (unlikely).

[Patrick Waterson]

And fetching out the original skull for another look is not really an option, so this is presumably as far as the matter will go unless someone devises a software package to reconstruct the details lost during casting.