A skeleton discovered at St Paul’s Catacombs has been revived using facial reconstruction, and Heritage Malta is now offering a masterclass on the journey of its recreation from site to lab.

Estimated to date back between the 4th century BC and the 2nd Century AD, the bones belonged to a woman aged between 18 – 24, according to Heritage Malta.

The skeleton was discovered within the access shaft of a shaft-and-chamber tomb in 2013 and experts were able to trace back the date of the bones using tomb typology and pottery studies. 

“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,” Heritage Malta wrote in a statement.

The masterclass will highlight the various techniques used to understand past burial practices and the studies that went into creating a biological profile of the individual from the bones.

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 (Senior Curator of St Paul’s Catacombs), Michelle
Padovani (Osteologist) and a group of Italian specialists led by Roberto Miccichè
(Forensic Anthropologist).

It will be streamed live on Facebook on Wednesday, 21st April, at 6.30pm.