Faces Brought Back: Scientific Reconstruction of the WWII Soldiers Appearance

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Abstract

For several years, the Center for Physical Anthropology at the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences, has been working on the reconstruction of the appearance of warriors who perished during World War II. The aim of this work is to gather as much information as possible about the lifetime appearance of the soldiers whose remains were found many years later on the former battlefields – namely, to determine the age, gender, body length, and body types, using the standard anthropological programs. The authors studied the remains of eight warriors exhumed by search teams in 2023 at the sites of battles for the Zaitseva Gora heights near the village of Tsvetovka in the Baryatinsky district of the Kaluga region. Graphic portraits in profile and frontal views were created, based on 3D-models of the skull. As a result, tables with individual skull measurements and calculated lifetime head sizes were compiled. In addition to graphic reconstructions, verbal portraits and descriptions of the burial context, including possible causes of death, are provided for each individual.

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About the authors

Elizaveta Veselovskaya

Russian State University for the Humanities; Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences

Author for correspondence.
Email: veselovskaya.e.v@yandex.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-2932-9884

доктор исторических наук, профессор, главный научный сотрудник

Russian Federation, 6 Miusskaya sq., Moscow, GSP-3, 125993; 32a Leninsky prospekt, Moscow, 119991

Ravil Galeev

Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: ravil.galeev@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-5816-4820

научный сотрудник

Russian Federation, 32a Leninsky prospekt, Moscow, 119991

Yulia Rashkovskaya

Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: j.pelenitsyna@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0000-0003-3378-9151

младший научный сотрудник

Russian Federation, 32a Leninsky prospekt, Moscow, 119991

Anastasiia Iudina

Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: nastasia2455@yandex.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-2456-0948

младший научный сотрудник

Russian Federation, 19 Dmitry Ul’yanov St., Moscow, 117292

Sergey Artsemovich

Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: s.artsemovich@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-7185-8501

младший научный сотрудник

Russian Federation, 32a Leninsky prospekt, Moscow, 119991

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2. Fig. 1. Contour reconstructions based on the studied warrior skulls

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3. Fig. 2. Graphic reconstructions of the appearance (face and profile) based on the skulls: a) No. 5-5; b) No. 72-3/1; c) No. 13-2/5; d) No. 13-3/4. Author R.M. Galeev

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4. Fig. 3. Graphic reconstructions of the appearance (face and profile) based on the skulls: a) No. 40-1/3; b) No. 44-1/1; c) No. 44-1/4; d) No. SNG-1/2. Author R.M. Galeev

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