Virtual Anthropology - 3D Scanning of Skulls, Teeth and Bones
The evolution of humanity is a fascinating book, with so many pages still to be filled:
Three-dimensional capturing of fossil findings and mummies, for instance, allow for precise analysis and detailed interpretation of previous ages.
PrintPalaeontology and Anthropology
The so-called virtual anthropology is a new research area resulting from a cooperation of experts of very diverse science disciplines: this form of complementing knowledge exchange among anthropologists, mathematicians, medical scientists, physicists and computer scientists contributes to many areas, such as for example the examination and reconstruction of fossil findings and mummies, the improvement of dental implants as well as the early diagnosis of diseases or provides methods and results for a better understanding of the evolution of human beings and great apes.
In the field of anthropology, for example, facial reconstructions based on 3D data support the forensic identification of persons or give us a virtual impression of how extinct populations could have looked like. Because of its high value in the three-dimensional representation of human features, this method is also increasingly used in facial surgery, making it possible to illustrate a patient’s postoperative appearance prior to the procedure.
To share the developments and results of 3D scanning in anthropology with non-scientists, the research institute Senckenberg, in cooperation with the European Virtual Anthropology Network (EVAN), has set up an exhibition showing impressive examples of three-dimensional pictures, computer reconstructions and stereolithographic 3D objects of fossil findings. These computer-generated pictures do not only give visitors the opportunity to get a virtual, but yet very authentic idea of what our ancestors have looked like. The data will also allow scientists around the world to draw conclusions on the origin, the development of life as well as the human life in general.
In the research field of palaentology, three-dimensionals scans are used e.g. to analyse so-called „occlusal fingerprints”, to create functional wear patterns of teeth or for virtual reconstructions of skull findings.
By scanning teeths’ chewing surfaces, experts can analyse for example the food intake of creatures who died out long ago.
- Homo rudolfensis: The lower jaw UR 501
Exhibition "Skull Cult
Head and Skull in the Cultural History of Mankind"
For the first time in the world, the Reiss-Engelhorn-Museums in Mannheim present the exhibition “Skull Cult”, which focuses on a subject that spans many cultures and times. From autumn 2011, the importance of head and skull in the cultural history of man is seen through more than 300 exhibits.
The exhibition takes place until April 29, 2012 in the Reiss-Engelhorn Museum in Mannheim (Germany).
A short overview about the preparation of the exhibition gives the movie “About shrunken heads and crystal skull: The cult around the head.” (Spiegel TV Magazin, only in German available)
Pictures
- Virtual reconstruction of a finding
- Functional wear pattern...
- ... of a scanned tooth. (Data: Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt)
