Scientists have reconstructed the face of a 3,000-year-old Indigenous man from Ecuador, using a nearly complete skull found in the country’s central Andes to create a digital image of how he may have looked in life. The reconstruction is based on Punín-2, a skull recovered near the town of Punín in Chimborazo province in the 1970s.
British forensic craniofacial anthropologist Christopher Rynn worked with researchers in Ecuador on the project, which was formally announced in March 2025 by Ecuador’s National Institute of Cultural Heritage. The National University of Chimborazo led the effort, while the Polytechnic School of Chimborazo produced a 3D scan of the skull.
Rynn combined digital techniques, partial wax modeling and reference data on facial tissue thickness. He said he initially kept information about the skull’s origin to a minimum so its anatomy, rather than assumptions about its background, would guide the reconstruction. Local people were later consulted on details the bones could not preserve, including the hairstyle.
Researchers reconstruct the face of Ecuador’s Punín-2 man
The finished image shows an older man with black hair parted in the middle. Researchers estimate he was about 50 when he died. Rynn said local guidance also led him to adjust the appearance of the eyes. The hairstyle and some surface features are interpretive, while the skull provides the main anatomical basis for the face.
The facial reconstruction from the Punin-2 skull shows an Indigenous American man, roughly in his 50s, who died more than 3,000 years ago. pic.twitter.com/yZPHiEuMT6
— Tom Marvolo Riddle (@tom_riddle2025) October 2, 2026
Punín-2 is also tied to a much older archaeological debate. A similar skull, Punín-1, was found in the same ravine in 1923 and became part of arguments over the age and ancestry of ancient people in South America. Later radiocarbon testing dated Punín-1 to about 7,000 years ago, weakening earlier suggestions that the skull was as old as Pleistocene animal fossils found nearby.
The age of Punín-2 remains less certain. Current reporting places the man between about 3,000 and 4,000 years ago. A frequently cited date of about 1240 B.C., however, came from a human femur found among other remains, not from the Punín-2 skull itself.
Dating and DNA questions still surround Punín-2 skull
The reconstruction of the 3,000-year-old Indigenous man from Ecuador also does not establish his genetic ancestry. Rynn has said the skull’s shape is consistent with Indigenous American ancestry, but the team hopes to conduct ancient DNA testing on both Punín skulls. “DNA will tell us the true genetic lineage,” he said.
The digital face has been shown to a small group of people from Chimborazo described in the report as likely descendants. Rynn called it “a portrait of their actual ancestor.” A physical bust using real hair is planned for 2027, and researchers are seeking support for further work on Punín-1 and genetic testing.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
