Digital reconstruction reveals Conquest Man's face

The face of a man who lived through the Norman Conquest has been digitally reconstructed.

The skeleton of the man, known as Conquest Man, was found buried at St Peter's Church in Barton-upon-Humber 50 years ago, with evidence his burial took place in 1079.

His remains were analysed using osteological analysis, ancient DNA and isotope testing.

Kevin Booth from English Heritage said: "I was really intrigued by what we could say about one individual who we know lives through that entire upheaval and whose face we can recreate pretty realistically and look at and think you're just like us, what on earth did you experience?"

The Norman Conquest began in 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy, and led to far-reaching changes in English government, society and language.

Booth, who is English Heritage's head curator of collections, said he had been "fascinated" by the skeleton for 20 years.

"It makes us think of his role at the time of the Conquest, his loyalties and anxieties," he said.

"The classic way of understanding the Battle of Hastings is binary, them and us. But what Conquest Man illustrates is so much richer than that."

Research of the skeleton revealed Conquest Man was stocky and muscular, just over five feet (1.5m) tall, 50 to 60 years old with multiple healed fractures.

He had been laid to rest in a coffin made from an oak tree felled in about 1079.

Booth said he was "what we'd now call Scandinavian" and "possibly only came to Barton in his adulthood to live a life and then be buried there."

He said Conquest Man would have been an everyday person who now helps to "plot the way Barton's community today has developed".

"He's not some stranger. He's not some oddity with a dirty beard and mud on his face.

"This man is representation of that 11th Century mingling and coming and going and shared common culture."

The oldest parts of St Peter's Church, such as its Anglo-Saxon tower and baptistery, were built in the early 11th Century.

After being declared redundant in 1972, the church and its churchyard were excavated, with the remains of nearly 3,000 people found.

"People come from all across the world to study [them]," Booth said.

He added he would "love" for Conquest Man to "enthuse the next generation of researchers" to apply techniques across the whole collection and "say something probably astonishing about the community of Barton".

Conquest Man is permanently on display at St Peter's Church and can be seen as part of Heritage Open Days on 20 September from 12:00 to 16:00 BST.

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