A Scottish student using a rare Celtic female druid’s skull has recreated her head and face in a 3D wax model. The toothless old woman from Stornoway, known as ‘Hilda’, is believed to have lived on the west coast Scottish island of Stornoway and it is thought that she was in excess of 60-years-old when she died.

Hilda lived in the Iron Age and a report on the University of Dundee website explains that the skull has been brought back to life by Karen Fleming, a MSc Forensic Art and Facial Identification student at the University of Dundee.

Druids of the Hebrides

According to an article on STV the 3D wax reconstruction of the toothless female was recreated from the measurements of an ancient skull that had been kept at Edinburgh University’s Anatomical Museum. Hilda is described as having been one of six “Druids of the Hebrides that had been given to the Phrenological Society of Edinburgh in 1833”.

Karen said Hilda, “was a fascinating character to recreate. It’s clear from the skull she was toothless before she died, which isn’t too surprising considering the diet of folks back then”. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the woman was how long she lived, considering the average female died around 30-years-old, while Hilda was at least 60 years of age.

Read more: ancient origins