The face needed to be understood as a best estimate based on evidence, not a photograph of a real person.

English Heritage’s presentation of the project, and the coverage that followed, generally navigated this challenge successfully.

The face appeared alongside explanations of the methods that produced it and the uncertainties that remained.

The scientific findings were communicated alongside the visual result.

Memory And The Medieval Dead

There is a final dimension to the Conquest Man story that connects it to something larger than any single individual or any single scientific project.

All societies have to decide how to treat their dead.