Caroline M. Wilkinson
FRSE
Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This so ...
(born 27 October 1965) is a British
anthropologist who has been a professor at the
Liverpool John Moores University
, mottoeng = Fortune favours the bold
, established = 1823 – Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts1992 – Liverpool John Moores University
, type = Public
, endowment =
, coor ...
's School of Art and Design since 2014.
She is best known for her work in
forensic facial reconstruction
Forensic facial reconstruction (or forensic facial approximation) is the process of recreating the face of an individual (whose identity is often not known) from their skeletal remains through an amalgamation of artistry, anthropology, osteolog ...
and has been a contributor to many television programmes on the subject, as well as the creator of reconstructed heads of kings
Richard III
Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Bat ...
of England in 2013
and
Robert the Bruce
Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventuall ...
of Scotland in 2016.
Wilkinson holds a
PhD PHD or PhD may refer to:
* Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification
Entertainment
* '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series
* ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic
* Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group
** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...
in facial anthropology from the
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The university owns and operates majo ...
(2000), and from 2000 to 2005 led the Unit of Art and Medicine at the university.
Between 2005 and 2014 she taught at the University of Dundee in the award-winning Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification, where from 2011 she was Professor of Craniofacial Identification and Head of Human Identification.
She first became known to television audiences as a result of her regular appearances on the BBC series ''
Meet the Ancestors'', and also appeared on ''
History Cold Case
''History Cold Case'' is a British documentary television series in which scientists use modern forensic techniques to investigate ancient remains. Two series of ''History Cold Case'' aired on BBC Two between 6 May 2010 and 21 July 2011. The t ...
'' while working at the
University of Dundee
, mottoeng = "My soul doth magnify the Lord"
, established = 1967 – gained independent university status by Royal Charter1897 – Constituent college of the University of St Andrews1881 – University College
, ...
(2005 – 2014).
Facial reconstruction
In 2013, Wilkinson created a facial reconstruction of King
Richard III
Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Bat ...
, whose remains had been uncovered in a car park and positively identified using DNA.
In December that year, Wilkinson created a facial reconstruction of
Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-day De ...
, working from anatomical knowledge, tissue depth data, and the latest reconstruction technology. From his skeletal remains, it was known that his broken nose had "healed asymmetrically, giving him a characteristic nose and rugged facial appearance".
In 2016, Wilkinson helped create facial reconstructions of
Robert the Bruce
Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventuall ...
, using a skull believed to have belonged to the Scottish king. Two versions were created, one standard one and another based on the belief that he had suffered from
leprosy
Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria '' Mycobacterium leprae'' or '' Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve da ...
.
She is the author of several works on the subject of facial identification and depiction.
Awards
In 2012, she was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh
The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...
and was awarded the 2013 RSE Senior Prize for Public Engagement. Wilkinson was awarded the Combined Royal Colleges medal of the
Royal Photographic Society
The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is one of the world's oldest photographic societies. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as the Photographic Society of London with ...
in 2016, for "outstanding contribution to the advancement of medical photography or medical imaging."
Works
*"Juvenile forensic facial reconstruction – a detailed accuracy study" (with Whittaker, DK). ''Proceedings of the 10th Meeting of the International Association of Craniofacial Identification'', Bari, Italy; 98-110 (2002)
*"Measurement of eyeball protrusion and its application in facial reconstruction." (with Mautner, SA.) ''J For Sci'' 48 (1) 12-16 (2003)
*"The reconstruction of faces showing healed wounds."(with Neave, RAH) ''J Archaeological Science'' 30; 1343-1348 (2003)
*"The relationship between the soft tissues and the skeletal detail of the mouth." (with Motwani, M and Chiang, E.) ''J For Sci. 48'' (4) 1-5 (2003)
*"In vivo facial tissue depth measurements for White British children". ''J. Forensic Sci'' 47 (3): 459-465
*''Forensic Facial Reconstruction'' (Cambridge University Press, 2008)
*"Craniofacial Identification" (Cambridge University Press, 2012) Co-editor.
References
External links
Faculty pageat Liverpool John Moores University
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkinson, Caroline
1965 births
Living people
Alumni of the University of Manchester
British anthropologists
British women anthropologists
Academics of the University of Dundee
Academics of Liverpool John Moores University