Creating a facial approximation is no easy task and can take upward of hundreds of hours to create. Case in point: The facial reconstruction of an Incan girl who died 500 years ago on the summit of a mountain in Peru, likely in a sacrificial ritual. Decades after a team of archaeologists discovered her frozen mummified body in 1995, Oscar Nilsson, a forensic artist based in Sweden, created a life-like facial reconstruction of the teenager. All told, it took Nilsson nearly 400 hours to make the facial approximation of the "Ice Maiden" (also known as "Juanita") using a blend of technology mixed with hands-on techniques that used clay and silicone to create the final reconstruction.
Here, Nilsson explains step by step how he brought the "Ice Maiden" to life centuries after her death.
