The genesis of the project was concern that the head, could be decaying from the inside. Utilising cutting-edge scanning technology, the team successfully analysed beneath the bandages without harming the delicate relic.

The scan revealed that the skull was exceptionally well-preserved.

Dr Janet Davey, a forensic Egyptologist, identified Meritamun as ancient Egyptian. Dr Davey used Meritamun’s bone structure to determine her gender, focusing on markers like jaw size and angle, narrowness of the roof of her mouth, and roundness of her eye sockets. The quality of the linen bandages indicated that Meritamun was of high status and likely embalmed during the during the Greco-Roman period, 331 BC. 

Meritamun’s skull was 3D printed in 140 hours by imaging technician Gavan Mitchell, who meticulously perfected the design for accurate jaw and skull base details. 

Sculptor Jennifer Mann used the printed skull as a foundation for Meritamun’s face reconstruction. Mann learned facial reconstruction at the Forensic Anthropology Centre at Texas State University. The process involves affixing plastic makers to the skull to represent various tissue depths at specific facial points, utilising population data averages from modern Egyptians. This data, chosen by reconstruction specialists worldwide, serves as the most accurate estimation for ancient Egyptians.

Subsequently, clay was applied in accordance with facial musculature and established anatomical ratios derived from the actual skull.

Named Meritamun — which means beloved of the god Amun — the team speculate that the head belonged to an 18 to a 25-year-old woman who lived at least 2000 years ago.