Craniofacial reconstruction (CFR) is a technique used to rebuild the living facial appearance onto a skull in order to recognise or identify an individual. This technique is primarily employed in forensic investigation, but also utilised in archaeological research to recreate the faces of paleontological and archaeological humans. In this study, the face of a 17 th century historical figure from Korea was reconstructed utilisingcomputerized tomography from the mummified remains. A geographic surface comparison programme was employed to evaluate the accuracy of the CFR produced using a three-dimensional computerized modelling system. Analysis of the facial tissue depth discrepancies demonstrated that the CFR may have acceptable resemblance to the living face of the historical individual. Using computerised graphic technology, the CFR outcome, along with the archaeological information about the hair style, ornaments, and dress discovered in the tomb, a portrait-styled in the typical drawing trend from the era was created. The research suggests that current CFR techniques can provide an accurate portrait drawing of historical figures in Korea.

In November and December 2013, unidentified human skeletal remains buried in a mokgwakmyo (a traditional wooden coffin) were unearthed while conducting an archaeological investigation near Gyeongju, which was the capital of the Silla Kingdom (57 BCE– 660 CE) of ancient Korea. The human skeletal remains were preserved in relatively intact condition. In an attempt to obtain biological information on the skeleton, physical anthropological, mitochondrial DNA, stable isotope and craniofacial analyses were carried out. The results indicated that the individual was a female from the Silla period, of 155 ± 5 cm height, who died in her late thirties. The maternal lineage belonged to the haplogroup F1b1a, typical for East Asia, and the diet had been more C3- (wheat, rice and potatoes) than C4-based (maize, millet and other tropical grains). Finally, the face of the individual was reconstructed utilizing the skull (restored from osseous fragments) and three-dimensional computerized modeling system. This study, applying multi-dimensional approaches within an overall bio-anthropological analysis, was the first attempt to collect holistic biological information on human skeletal remains dating to the Silla Kingdom period of ancient Korea.

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