Genetic Anthropologists Reconstruct Skyrim Skeleton

gamerant.com:

Genetic anthropologists study the links between ancient and modern-day humans, delving deeply into DNA and biology to understand evolutionary trends. One thing that these scientists do is reconstruct the skeletal remains of ancient peoples using skills from various fields — like art, osteology, and anatomy — to reveal what a person might have looked like when alive. Usually, this painstaking practice is carried out using real skulls, but recently a group of researchers decided to apply their techniques to reconstruct a skeleton from Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim.

A 2019 conference in Rome brought together historians from around the world to discuss Iron and Bronze Age Italy. Some of these people, due to shared interests, formed a group that they later called Ancestral Whispers, eventually expanding to 10 members with additional specialties in geography, computer science, and art. Inspired by the work of a renowned cranial reconstruction artist, Russian Mikhail Gerasimov, the group now carefully recreates the faces of ancient peoples using genetic anthropology.

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While usually the work of Ancestral Whispers covers skulls from the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Iron Age, and everything between, as a joke for April Fool’s Day, one of the team’s members shared a Twitter post of a more rare specimen. The image of a ruddy-skinned, blue-eyed, and thick-jawed man was captioned simply, “Facial reconstruction of an ancient Atmoran from Saarthal, dated to the late Merethic Era.” Skyrim fans were quick to realize that these names refer to the highly acclaimed 2011 action RPG.

For those less familiar with the particulars of The Elder Scrolls history and geography, the Merethic Era has