Face of the Stone Age
Swedish sculptor Oscar Nilsson reconstructed the face of an 18-year-old young woman, dubbed Avgi, whose 9,000-year-old bones were found in a cave in central Greece. [Read more about the facial reconstruction]
Step 1
A plastic 3D-printed skull was made based on scans of the original bones found in Greece. Nilsson used this replica as the base for his sculpture.
Layers of clay
Plastic pegs guided Nilsson as he added clay muscle to the face.
Molding muscle
He faithfully recreated each individual muscle between the bone and the skin. Because of this meticulous process, each sculpture takes about 220 hours from start to finish.
Scientific sculpture
For his reconstructions, Nilsson bases the thickness of the muscle and fat on scientists’ determination of the age, sex, weight, and ethnicity of the person he's trying to recreate.
Avgi opens her eyes
Half of the skull is finally covered with clay "skin."
Avgi complete
A much more lifelike silicone "skin" is finally added over the face, complete with pores and wrinkles. Not much is known about Avgi's life, but Nilsson hopes viewers could feel a connection with her by seeing her face.
