Forensic Facial Approximation of Achondroplastic Dwarf from Medieval Cemetery in Central Europe

Abstract

Achondroplasia (ACH, achondroplastic dwarfism) represents the most common form of skeletal dysplasia, occurring in c. 4 out of every 100,000 births. This study presents a computer-based facial approximation of the skull of a male individual suffering from ACH, who died at 30-45 years of age and was buried in ekno, Poland between the 9th and 11th centuries AD. For the approximation procedure, soft tissue data from CT scans and ultrasonic measurements performed on living individuals were used. Additionally, the anatomical deformation technique was applied to arrive at the most reliable reconstruction of the dwarfs appearance. To our knowledge, this is the first recreation of a person with achondroplasia, and one of the few showing a head of an individual suffering from a hereditary disease, with dimensions and shape differing from the population average values. Highlights- Forensic facial approximation of an achondroplastic dwarf from 9th-11th century AD has been performed as the first in the world - The applied procedure included CT of a virtual donor - Anatomical deformation technique allowed to extract the endocast, revealing a large volume of the endocranium - Few measurements applied to the facial skeleton proved successful in identification of a person suffering from achondroplasia