Indigenous man from ancient Ecuador reconstructed

Scientists have completed a digital facial reconstruction of an Indigenous man who lived in the Ecuadorian Andes approximately 3,000 years ago. The reconstruction is based on the Punin-2 skull, which was discovered in a ravine in the Chimborazo region during the 1970s.

Forensic anthropologist Christopher Rynn of the University of Dundee utilized digital techniques, wax modeling, and tissue thickness data to recreate the face. To ensure cultural authenticity, Rynn consulted local residents of the Chimborazo region regarding specific details such as hairstyle and eye placement. The man is estimated to have been roughly 50 years old and lived as a hunter-gatherer.

While previous researchers speculated that the Punin skulls might represent an extinct species or evidence of ancient trans-Pacific contact, modern geological and physical analyses indicate the individual was a modern human of Native American heritage, descending from ancestral groups in North Siberia and East Asia. Researchers intend to perform DNA analysis on both the Punin-2 and the previously discovered Punin-1 remains.