Haunting images of a 14th century medieval Scottish woman has been released ahead of this year’s Whithorn Lecture at the Wigtown Book Festival in Southwest Scotland this Friday.
Further images and animations will be revealed at the Lecture on Friday. The digital reconstructions will reveal what Bishop Walter of Whithorn who died in 1235, an unknown clergyman with a cleft palate and a woman in her twenties buried on a bed of sea shells may have looked like in life.
Julia Muir Watt, the trust’s Development Manager, said: “The chance to see and imagine that we can hear these three people from so many centuries ago is a remarkable way to help us understand our history and ancestry.
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“It’s always a challenge to imagine what life was really like in medieval times, and these reconstructions are a brilliant way to engage with who these people from our past really were, of their everyday lives, their hopes and their beliefs.”
The man with the cleft palate was buried close to the cathedral’s high altar, suggesting he was a cleric of high status. Researchers say the unknown man grew up locally. His grave was an elaborate mortared stone cist like the bishops around him.
The woman was buried with the rest of the lay people in what later became the Glebe Field, and little else is known about her circumstances or person in life. She was buried on a bed of shells, the reasons for which remain a mystery to researchers.
Bishop Walter was a portly man raised in south west Scotland but was not local to Whithorn. He was buried dressed including a gold finger ring and a wooden crozier, marking his status as a bishop.
Dr Adrian Maldonado of National Museums Scotland said:
“The famous excavations at Whithorn were a huge leap forward in the archaeology of Christianity, and amazingly, they continue to bring new insights into life in medieval Scotland.
“These graves were discovered decades ago, when they could not have anticipated the kinds of questions we can now ask. In addition to generating critical new scientific data about health and diet in the past, the people of medieval Whithorn continue to inspire stories.
“What could be a better testament to the value of curating archaeological collections in museums?”
The digital 3D reconstruction of the faces began with a project known as Cold Case Whithorn. Whithorn’s archaeological archive was revisited, re-housed and re-examined as part of the project.
Dr. Adrian Evans at University of Bradford borrowed the skulls of all three subjects from National Museums Scotland and Dumfries and Galloway Council Museums Service, and the skulls were reconstructed digitally with 3D technology.
Urbancroft Films of Glasgow created voiceovers to accompany films of the faces, and the animations will now go on show at the Whithorn Trust Visitor Centre.
The Whithorn Trust Event takes place each year in association with the Wigtown Book Festival. The 2022 event on Friday will bring together three of the experts who brought the medieval Scots of Whithorn Priory back to life.
The event will also see the launch of a series of tales inspired by the woman and the unknown cleric some of which have been written by students from the Douglas Ewart High School as part of Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022.
Wigtown Book Festival takes place from 23 September to 2 October. Tickets for Bishops, Bones and Burials event on Friday and the full festival programme here.
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