Revolutionary 3D facial reconstructions have brought to life two Neolithic sisters who endured brutal lives in a 6,000-year-old mining settlement in the Czech Republic. The hyper realistic recreations reveal not only their striking physical features but also provide compelling evidence of ancient social inequality and labor exploitation that may have targeted society’s most vulnerable members.
The sisters were discovered over 15 years ago in the Krumlov Forest of South Moravia, buried within the very mining shaft where they likely spent their final days extracting chert (flint). Their remains tell a harrowing story of physical hardship, malnourishment, and possible ritual sacrifice that challenges our understanding of Neolithic society, finds the report published in Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences.