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Heritage Malta masterclass: A skull's journey
Next Wednesday, 21 April, at 6:30pm, Heritage Malta will be streaming a super exciting masterclass via Facebook. The class will be following the journey, from site to lab, of a skull that was discovered at St Paul’s Catacombs. It also follows the creation of the related facial reconstruction.
The journey began back in August 2013, when a skeleton belonging to a female aged between 18 and 24, was discovered within the access shaft of a shaft and chamber tomb, surrounded by a remarkable assemblage of grave goods. Based on tomb typology and pottery studies, the skeleton was estimated to date back to between the late 4th century BC and 2nd century AD.
The masterclass is set to follow the exciting journey of the skeleton from the site, to the lab, highlighting the various techniques used to understand past burial practices and the studies, which went into creating a biological profile of the individual from the bones. The combination of this biological profile and the conservation of the skull ultimately resulted in sufficient information for specialists to create a facial reconstruction, giving a face to our past.
Entitled Staring the Past in the Eyes: Discovery and Research on a Skull from St Paul’s Catacombs, the masterclass will be delivered by a number of specialists, including David Cardona, who is the curator of St Paul’s Catacombs, osteologist, Michelle Padovani, and a group of Italian specialists led by Roberto Miccichè, a forensic anthropologist.
The masterclass will be delivered in English, with English subtitles for parts that are in Italian.
Check out Heritage Malta here for more information!
