Rebecca Lambert

For this project the Anatomical Museum of Edinburgh graciously allowed access to their catalogue of skulls for possible archaeological facial reconstruction. After choosing a skull I was provided with a good amount of background information: Male, John Hand, Executed in 1824 for Murder in Sydney, Australia and how the skull was later obtained by The Phrenological Society of Edinburgh in 1826/27

Using this information, I found that John Hand was a convict within the Australian penal colony in New South Wales, he would ultimately be assigned into private service for a man by the name of Michael Minton whom he would later go on to murder and consequently be executed in 1824.

Using a 3D scan of the skull of John Hand and working with various faculties within the University of Dundee's Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification, I managed to confirm his sex, determine his ancestry, and give a possible age group from his cranial measurements and an analysis of his teeth. John Hand was a male, likely of European ancestry and although a specific age range could not be pinpointed due to his poor oral health, we know that he was likely an older individual. 

Armed with all this information I created The Face of John Hand.