Ancient bones can return a wealth of information to the modern researcher. But they can’t ever truly reveal the dead’s lost humanity. Only when the hollow sockets become the thoughtful eyes of a girl or healed fractures give a knight a handsome scar does time vanish as skeletons turn back into real human beings.

10Ava

Nearly four millennia ago, a young woman died in ancient Britain, and she was unusual. Ava’s skull was strange, and so was her grave.

Nicknamed “Ava” after Achavanich, where she was unearthed in 1987, and aged 18 to 22, she most likely belonged to the Beaker people, a European group with short and rounded skulls. But Ava’s head was uneven yet shapely enough to suggest deliberate binding.

During the Middle Bronze Age, it was customary to bury the dead under a cairn or in a soil pit. Ava’s unmarked grave was cut with a lot of effort into solid rock. A beaker found inside also hinted that Ava was special—its designs have never been seen before. She died too young and from unknown causes.

9The Mary Rose Archer

The Mary Rose was the flagship of King Henry VIII’s war fleet. She sank over 500 years ago and took many souls to the bottom of the sea. In 1982, the wreck was raised with a dead crew of 92 skeletons.

Historical accounts mention elite troops onboard, and this meant longbow archers. One such identified archer was an impressive 2 meters (6 ft) tall—well above the average Tudor male. Personal items indicated his rank was high and his built had to be powerful to draw the tough 16th-century longbow.

To reveal what this crack soldier looked like, a scan of his skull was fed into a 3-D printer that popped out an exact replica. The archer’s face was reconstructed around the printed skull. The result showed a man with a no-nonsense look that would make any opponent think twice.

8The USS Monitor

A more recent maritime tragedy involved the USS Monitor, the Navy’s first ironclad warship. She sank in a storm In 1862, while being towed off Cape Hatteras. Almost 150 years onward, her gun turret resurfaced through a joint effort by the Navy and NOAA. Inside, they found a pair of skeletons, two of only 16 Civil War sailors to be recovered.

After reconstructing them, NOAA released the images. One of the men who drowned in the turret was very young, between 17 and 24, and had movie star good looks. His companion, although about the same height and also white, was older. Aged 30 to 40, he was likely an avid pipe smoker and had a wide face dotted with close-set eyes and a big nose.

7The Girl Of Uchter Moor

In 2000, a peat harvester in Germany pulled up a body. Police initially thought it was the missing Elke Kerll, but a DNA test disproved this. She was dubbed “Moora” after Uchter Moor where she was found. Her origins languished for years until her missing hand turned up in the same area. More tests showed that the bog body wasn’t modern but a teenager who had died during the Iron Age.

Five independent teams recreated five slightly different Mooras. But most of her features—eyes, nose, and cheekbones—were all alike. Moora’s behavior still confounds experts.

She went deeply into the bog, a highly dangerous thing to do. Was the teen fleeing or collecting bilberries (a mind-altering fruit)? Whatever followed, the lack of ancient skeletal trauma indicates an accident rather than murder ended her short life.

6The Silla Skull

The Silla Kingdom controlled much of the Korean Peninsula (57 BC–AD 935), but despite being one of the most enduring and influential dynasties, complete skeletons from that period are scarce. Incredibly, a perfectly preserved grave was found in 2013, that of a woman’s.

Her skull was fragmented but, once assembled, revealed a strange elongated head researchers don’t believe was the result of binding. Had she suffered this procedure, the bones in the front of her skull would’ve been flatter, and the sides would’ve grown more to adjust to the pressure of flattening. The Silla woman shows none of this. Her skull is normal except for its odd shape. Experts believe that it might’ve been a natural occurrence, albeit rare, in the ethnic group during that era.

5The French Mummy

Louis XVI was beheaded in 1793, and King Henry IV of France had his long-dead head removed, as revolutionaries desecrated as many royal tombs as they could find. Rediscovered in a private collection, the skull’s face was digitally returned, and to the excitement of researchers, it mirrored known depictions of Henry, a mole and ear piercing included.

The embalming method fits historical records of how Henry’s body was prepared, but it obscures the papery mummy’s identity. Sure, the face resembles Henry, but the embalming and careless modern handling contaminated the DNA so much that it can no longer be compared with his living descendants.

4The Stirling Knight

It’s not often one can meet a real medieval knight. But renovations at Stirling Castle made this possible when the body of a young man was unearthed. Near him, a woman had her head crushed, possibly by a mace. The pair was part of 10 skeletons discovered, including two babies. A siege appeared to have been behind their violent deaths.

His skeleton revealed the powerful physique of someone trained since boyhood with weapons and horses. Healed injuries proved he was a professional soldier who had survived some hairy battles. A facial reconstruction showed the scars of old wounds. Unexpectedly, documents revealed his name. He was Sir John de Stricheley, an English nobleman who died in 1341, possibly felled by a Scottish arrow.

3The Flores Woman

Better known as the controversial “hobbit ,” her remains were found on the Indonesian island of Flores in 2003, standing an adorable 1 meter (3 ft) tall. A recent artistic rendering showed that the 30-year-old had high cheekbones and large eyes. The more accurate software showed that the woman had modern features rather than the monkey look paleo-artists previously credited her with.

While researchers say she’s no beauty queen, missing much of what one would call a forehead, it remains incredible to see such a long lost part of the human family tree. That is, if she is even an ancient human. Officially called Homo floresiensis, she lived 18,000 years ago and with a different-shaped brain and wrist bones more consistent with apes. Scientists believe she might be an entirely new species.

2Dante

When Dante’s skull was turned back into a face, researchers were surprised to see that he differed from traditional depictions of the man. Usually, he is shown with a stern or severe expression, but when his features were revealed through forensic efforts, Dante had a softer gaze and looked a whole lot friendlier. However, his famously hooked nose was spot-on.

Among other difficulties, Dante suffered the death of his beloved Beatrice and banishment from Florence in 1302 for opposing Pope Boniface VIII. His actual bones remain hidden by Italian monks who refused scientists access to them. Dante’s face was recreated using a replica skull.

1St. Anthony

When a Brazilian expert was asked to reconstruct the appearance of an ancient person, all he was told was that the skull belonged to a 36-year-old man. The face was that of an ordinary-looking male, perhaps somebody easily forgotten when passed on the street. Only afterward did the expert find out that he had helped millions of believers to gaze upon the real face of Saint Anthony.

Born in 1195, St. Anthony became a monk at 15 when he joined the Augustinians. Two remarkable events mark the career of this great saint, one in life and the other in death. While alive, he personally met with the famous St. Francis of Assisi, and the second was how fast he was canonized. The second fastest in history, St. Anthony was sainted merely a year after he died at a convent in 1231.

+The Face Of God

The most explosive headline in human history would be the announcement that the skull of Jesus Christ has been found. Unfortunately, there is no sign of it. Unfolding the next best thing, researchers studied the Turin Shroud. Whether it’s a clever artistic fraud or a real miracle, one cannot resist looking into what could very well be the face of Christ.

Employing sketch artist expertise and computer graphics, specialists recreated both the body and the face of the man-print on the Shroud. The results matched the historical portrayals of Jesus. Even if the 3-D pictures are a little rough-edged, they are believed to be the most accurate Turin reconstruction.

Pictured here is Ray Downing’s final illustration of the Man in the Shroud. Downing was the artist who created the reconstruction for the History Channel. Whether you believe this is the face of God or not, it is certainly quite an accomplishment to take a reverse image from an ancient cloth and turn it into a virtually-photographic quality reproduction.

Throwing around theories can only get the experts so far. For the more hands-on type of researcher, nothing beats being able to recreate something from history, bringing back to life the machines, words, technology, and even foods that sustained our ancestors. Recreations can link the past with the present, and sometimes, the knowledge that returns can be breathtaking.

10Skull Surgery

The 2015 discovery of a Siberian skull allowed doctors to replicate ancient brain surgery. The 3,000-year-old head came with a carved hole. Closer inspection painted a clearer picture of the operation, known as trepanation.

Researchers even tried the techniques on fresh skulls. First, the patient had to be sedated, likely with a mind-altering plant. The angle of the wound’s edges indicate that the man rested on his back, head turned to the right. The surgeon would’ve cut down to the bone while an assistant opened the skin. After tissue layers were folded away, a hole was scraped down to the brain.

Too much bleeding could be fatal, so the Bronze Age medics had to move with expert speed before replacing and securing the scalp. New bone growth proved the man lived afterward, but signs of a persistent post-operative inflammation hinted he never survived the recovery period.

9The Pyramid Machine

Within the Great Pyramid of Giza is a primitive machine. It might not excite hardcore engineers, but it was sophisticated for its time.

To protect the king’s body, ancient masons created a system to seal off the burial room. Its presence was known since the 19th century, but with the help of a digital recreation, Egyptologists could see it in action for the first time. Three mammoth granite slabs hung inside the walls just outside the king’s chamber, where scholars believe Pharaoh Khufu’s mummy once rested. A series of grooves moved the blocks down a chute and provided a formidable barrier against grave robbers by blocking the inner sanctum. It was looted anyway.

More optimistic Egyptologists believe the room was a decoy and that the real tomb of Khufu might be found behind three unexplored doors located deeply down small shafts.

8The Mother Tongue

Most languages today evolved from Proto-Indo-European, or PIE. Spoken by a culture that populated the plains to the northern area of the Caspian Sea, the language existed between 6,000–3,500 BC. Extensive studies on daughter languages put some of its vocabulary back together, but for centuries, experts accepted that the sounds of PIE would never be heard again.

Then the cool cookies at Cambridge and Oxford Universities resurrected the extinct speech. They developed a way to flip a spoken word’s sound into numbers. When compared to other words with the same meaning in PIE-related languages today or earlier versions, researchers could gauge how vocals changed over time by studying how the numbers changed. Shape was turned back into sound, and PIE began to emerge. It’s a work in progress, but certain words are being spoken again for the for time in 8,000 years.

7The Real Psittacosaurus

Dinosaur resurrections aren’t new, but one from China is the most accurate ever done. Resembling a strange toy, it’s cute and somewhat creepy. When discovered, the turkey-sized Psittasaur fossil came with exquisite detail, including skin and pigment. Recreating its muscles and color revealed a wealth of information and a rare look at a real dinosaur free of artistic guesswork.

The boxy face sported horned cheeks and a parrot mouth. The tail carried a bristled Mohawk. The 100-million-year-old herbivore walked on its back legs, had good eyesight, and the large head—which surprised those involved in the reconstruction—indicated high intelligence. Pigmentation was also unexpectedly abundant. Colored scales on the limbs, shoulders, skin flaps and cloaca suited an animal hiding in the shade, perhaps beneath a forest canopy. As such, it’s the first solid evidence of camouflage in a terrestrial fossil.

6Colosseum Killing Machine

When released into the Colosseum, animals didn’t traipse up the stairs. A giant wooden cage, working like an ancient elevator, hoisted wild creatures up to the arena where they fought to the death. A project was launched to return this feature as a permanent part of the Colosseum.

Researchers teased details regarding its design and the complex rope and pulley system from underneath the arena. Below, tunnels revealed bronze fittings, carved openings for timber posts and rope chafing against stone left clues to the system’s directional movements. Once hammered together, it was capable of lifting up to 300 kilograms and required eight men to operate. When the replicated elevator was tested, it carried an adult male wolf into the amphitheater. He became the first animal to trot out into the Colosseum in 1,500 years.

Instead of meeting a bloody fate, the wolf was treated with a biscuit.

5Stone Age Superglue

Toolmakers achieved something remarkable 70,000 years ago. They devised a superglue that kept instruments from falling apart. Acacia tree gum was mixed with red ochre, and the pigment was thought to be merely decorative. That was before researchers cooked up a batch using only materials and techniques from the Stone Age. They discovered the iron-rich ocher put the super in glue.

The mixture sounds simple, but for this ancient community, who lived in what is today South Africa, it wasn’t easy to produce an adhesive that worked. There is a chemical balance that is responsible for making the glue so potent. They didn’t know about pH or iron content yet produced goo that clung with a vengeance. They knew certain trees, types of gum, and different ochre sites combined best for the desired results. This suggests Stone Age intelligence and technology was more advanced than generally accepted.

4Egyptian Furnace

A few years before the reign of Tutankhamen, experts thought that the decoration-loving Egyptians imported their glass from the Near East. The discovery of a 3,000-year-old furnace proved this historical assumption to be wrong. They not only made their own but were also advanced glass makers.

At the ruins of an industrial complex against the Nile, at Armarna, a team of archaeologists built a replica of the furnace. Using local sand, they soon produced glass. It went so well that it’s even possible the Egyptians used a mere single-step process. While in operation, the complex provided work space for other highly skilled craftsmen besides the glass makers. Pottery, blue pigment, and faience were also produced at the high temperature facilities.

3Pompeii’s Wine

The AD 79 eruption of Vesuvius buried most of Pompeii’s wine farms under ash. In the 1800s, casts were made of the grapevines and their remaining supports.

Curious to taste wine once described as the Roman Empire’s best, archaeologists and winemakers got together. They studied the casts and old frescoes to determine the grape variety and identified two types still grown near Vesuvius. Surviving farming manuals and vine trellis provided information on cultivation. Originally, Pompeii vines were packed closely together, and researchers feared the harvest would suffer because of it, but the fertile Pompeii soil worked wonders. Modern fermentation techniques were chosen since the Romans made their wine under unhygienic conditions. Laced with a hideous taste, the strong alcoholic punch was probably behind its popularity.

Fifteen of Pompeii’s vineyards have been restored, and the wine, called Villa dei Misteri, now appears in elite restaurants around the world.

2Underwater Concrete

Early Roman architects erected Caesarea Harbor in the Mediterranean Sea. It was one of the greatest engineering feats of its time, and modern archaeologists wanted to recreate the incredible hydraulic concrete piers poured beneath the waves 2,000 years ago.

The writings of ancient architect Pollio Vitruvius identified the ingredients as lime, sand, volcanic rocks, and seawater. Vitruvius didn’t explain how to secure to the seabed the wooden forms needed to shape the concrete, nor how to mix the mortar aggregate or pour it.

The casing was recreated by studying plank imprints from similar concrete sites. After mixing the cement, mortar was tipped in using a basket system copied from old construction drawings. The aggregate was added by hand as the building progressed. In 2004, after 273 hours of manual labor and 13 tons of material, three archaeologists successfully raised a “pila,” a Roman free-standing pier, from the bottom of the sea.

1Damascus Steel

When metallurgists from Stanford University discussed their latest invention, they realized they may have unwittingly rediscovered the manufacturing process for the legendary Damascus steel.

A sword hobbyist attending the meeting mentioned that their “superplastic” metal, like Damascus steel, had a high carbon content. Further analysis delivered fantastic results—the two metals owned near-identical properties.

Known for swirling patterns and formidable blades, the historic swords were valued throughout the ancient world and was the weapon used by the Crusaders in the 11th century. Two things contributed to the loss of Damascus blades. Blacksmiths kept their knowledge secret, and firearms arrived.

Both steel varieties are warmed at moderate temperatures, reheated, and then rapidly cooled down with fluids. This creates carbide grains. In Damascus steel, they are responsible for the hardiness and beautiful surface lines. Contemporary technology creates tinier grains, making the superplastic metal more workable and harder that Damascus steel.