A digital reconstruction revealed the face of a 3,500-year-old Mycenaean royal woman, providing a remarkable glimpse into the ancient world of Mycenae, centuries before the Trojan War and the time of Homer.
Dr. Emily Hauser, a historian and lecturer in Classical Studies at the University of Exeter, initiated the reconstruction project. She described the result as "incredibly exciting" and "unexpectedly modern." "For the first time, we are looking into the face of a woman from a kingdom associated with Helen of Troy—Helen's sister, Clytemnestra, was queen of Mycenae in legend—and from where the poet imagined the Greeks of the Trojan War setting out," Hauser said.
The digital depiction was based on a clay model of the woman's skull created by researchers at the University of Manchester in the 1980s, which served as a reference for the reconstruction. The University of Manchester was one of the research centers that pioneered facial reconstruction techniques. Spanish digital artist Juanjo Ortega G. processed the model and presented the most realistic rendering possible based on new data from DNA analysis, bone studies, and archaeological findings from the tomb.
Recent genetic analysis proved that the two skeletons found in the tomb belong to siblings, not to a husband and wife as initially assumed. Facial similarities had previously been noted between the woman and the man buried beside her, but DNA confirmed that the skeletons were siblings. Hauser commented, "The traditional story is that, if you have a woman next to a man, she must be his wife."
The woman died around the age of 35 and was buried in a royal cemetery in Mycenae between the 17th and 16th centuries BCE, with burial objects that enhance the find's importance. Among the burial items were a gold mask made of electrum and three swords, which were initially assumed to be associated with the man buried beside her but are now believed to belong to the woman herself.
"This finding strengthens the idea that the woman had a prominent social position or perhaps a military role, causing a radical rethinking of views on women's relationship to war during that period," Hauser noted. New data show that in Late Bronze Age tombs, more sets of weapons—the so-called warrior kits—are found next to women than next to men. Hauser emphasizes that technology—from forensic and genetic analysis to 3D printing—now allows us to "look the past in the eye."
The skeletal profile of the woman showed signs of arthritis in the spine and hands, likely a result of intensive weaving activity. "It is a reminder of the physical strain on women of that time, like Helen in the Iliad, who is described as weaving," Hauser observed. Weaving was a widespread but demanding activity for women of that era. This parallel connects the reconstruction with the myth in an almost poetic way.
Hauser is preparing to publish her new book Mythica: A New History of Homer's World, Through the Women Written Out of It, which highlights the forgotten voices of women in the ancient world—this time, with evidence from science. She states, "Through technology, the sciences, and historical imagination, these women are coming out of the shadows. And when we look at them, we realize that they are not just legends—they were people, with faces, roles, and stories that we can now tell again."
The image that emerges from the reconstruction is that of a dignified, dynamic, and strong female presence. "This is a face that could have inspired legends—a woman worth remembering, not as a shadow of the men of her time, but as the protagonist of her own story," Hauser said.
The tomb had been excavated since the 1950s, but only now has the scientific community managed to get close to "seeing" who the woman found there was. Archaeological evidence and DNA analysis were allowing "the real women of ancient history to step out of the shadows," Hauser explained. "Such digital reconstructions persuade us that these were real people," she added. "So this is such a wonderful way to connect real women's experiences to the ancient myths and tales."
In Homer's epic poems, Mycenae is ruled by the mythical King Agamemnon, who led the Greek forces in the Trojan War. The city is located on a small hill between two larger hills on the Argolid Plain in the Peloponnese region of Greece.
Advancements in forensic anthropology, DNA analysis, radiocarbon dating, and 3D digital printing have led to dramatic improvements in reconstructions of the ancient world. Hauser noted that this approach brings us closer to the real women of antiquity, beyond stereotypes or mythological abstractions.
The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.
