Different databases would produce different results.

The use of a modern French reference database is a methodological choice with potentially significant consequences for the result when the subject is an ancient individual from a population that differs substantially from modern French people.

The Formal Comparison: Geometric Morphometrics

After the three reconstructions were produced — independently, with each team working from the skull and genome data without seeing the others’ results — the Velemínská team conducted a formal comparison using geometric morphometrics.

This comparison is the methodological heart of the 2026 paper and the part that distinguishes it most clearly from previous reconstruction studies.