Cambridge researchers reconstruct face of a man who lived 700 years ago in medieval England

The face you see is that of an ordinary, poor man who lived in medieval England 700 years ago. The man has been designated with the name Context 958, and was one of around 400 bodies that scientists uncovered in a hospital grave right below where the Cambridge college stands today. The photorealistic reconstruction was realised by Cambridge scientists with the help of University of Dundee’s Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification.

Image: Cambridge

There are a number of complete skeletons recovered from the hospital graveyard, which is allowing the researchers to study the day to day lives, dietary habits and the health of the residents of medieval England just after being ravaged by the Plague.

The charitable hospital used to provide healthcare to the public, and perhaps even offered shelter to the sick and homeless. The researchers were able to study the wear marks on the bones and teeth to figure out a rough history of Context 958.

Context 958 was poor, and was a working-class individual. During the course of his life his teeth enamel stopped growing twice, once at a very young age. This shows that Context 958 was exposed to famine and hardship very early in life.

He had consumed a large amount of fish and meat, which seems to indicate that Context 958 was in a profession that gave him more access to meat than was usual for the poor. Context 958 also suffered from blunt force trauma to the back of his skull, which had healed over before his death.

Find out more details about the fascinating Context 958 and the reconstruction on the Cambridge website.

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