Forensic expertise reveals information about skeleton

When Dundee City Galleries decided to investigate the origins of a skeleton on display in the city’s McManus Galleries, they called on the expertise of Dr Tim Thompson of the University's Department of Forensic Anthropology.

Little is yet known about the individual whose skeleton, excavated from a long cist cemetery in Lundin Links, Fife, has been carbon dated to between the fifth and seventh centuries AD. However Tim’s examination has established that the skeleton is that of a woman, who was 5' 1" and who died in her late 20s. The skull has now been digitally scanned which will allow a facial reconstruction to be created.

The forensic examination is taking place as part of the Who We Are - Dundee's 21st Century Museum Project.