Digitally Reconstructing The Faces Of Ancient Palmyra

Post by **de officiis** » Thu Jul 06, 2017 4:29 am

At the opening of a new art exhibit on the faces of ancient Palmyra at the Museo archeologico nazionale di Cividale del Friuli in the northern Italian city of Friuli, prominent Near Eastern archaeologist Paolo Matthiae remarked that 70% of the city's monuments destroyed by ISIS could possibly be reconstructed.

In part, the reconstruction of the city may be achieved with the use of digital technologies such as 3D printing. However, as the exhibit highlights: not only the archaeological remains of Palmyra, but also the people that lived there must be part of this reconstruction. A look at these faces and the current attempts to preserve them digitally give us a sense of the women, men, and children that populated this ancient city.

3-D printing to the rescue?