3-D used to make Bronze Age man's face

Academic "time detectives" from Liverpool have used 3-D digital technology to reveal the face of a Bronze Age farmer who lived in middle England 4,000 years ago. Experts from Face Lab at Liverpool John Moores University used the technology based on a study of the man's skull.

The man's skeleton was found in an ancient burial ground in the county of Derbyshire in the 1930s. For the past 30 years the bone remains have been part of a collection at Derbyshire's Buxton Museum in a scenic area of Britain known as the Peak District.

But until now nobody had been able to imagine what the man looked like in life.

The project is part of a heritage effort to connect the museum's collections to the surrounding landscape.

Joe Perry, assistant collections officer at the museum, says it was important to put a face to the Bronze Age remains.

Caroline Wilkinson from Face Lab says clay was used in the technique to help build the face.

It is always a thrill to see the process work on ancient people, she says, adding: "It's a surprise to people when they look like us, it creates more empathy."

The skull of the man was found damaged inside a stone box at the old burial ground known as Liff's Low. A type of beaker and a stone pendant were found along with the human remains.

Perry says there was a need for humanity with the Liff's Low skeleton.

"We need to make people think about the skeleton as a person who lived and worked in Derbyshire. We have a duty of care to the deceased, we wanted to emphasize that these are people," he says.

Perry says the man could have been about 35 when he died and spent his life farming within the district.

It is believed the stone box he was buried in collapsed, causing damage to the front of his skull.

The remains, along with the image of the Peak District's most famous farmer, will go on public display when the museum reopens in September.