Over many years, Curator Alexandra Fletcher has formed a particularly strong bond with one of the… older people in the British Museum. In fact, she was one of the first to see his face in over 9,500 years. The Jericho Skull is arguably the oldest portrait in the British Museum – a human skull from the ancient city of Jericho which had plaster applied to it to form a type of early facial reconstruction.

The Jericho Skull is fascinating to look at, but since being discovered in 1953, archaeologists weren’t able to find out much more about this man – until now. Using CT scanning, 3D printing and facial reconstruction, Alexandra and her team have finally been able to reveal the man behind the plaster.

Find out more in Room 3 until 19 February 2017:
The Asahi Shimbun Displays
Creating an ancestor: the Jericho Skull
15 December 2016 – 19 February 2017
https://goo.gl/1p2L7M

Listen to the British Museum podcast episode on the Jericho Skull’s discovery on:
Mobile device https://goo.gl/GWWofs
Soundcloud https://goo.gl/u5GTth
iTunes https://goo.gl/oSWTUp

LINKS:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/britishmuseum
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/britishmuseum
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/britishmuseum
Blog: http://british.museumblog.org/