The face of an indigenous Canary Islander who lived more than 600 years ago has been recreated using forensic techniques and 3D scanning. 

Guanche people inhabited the archipelago between the first and 15th centuries, until the arrival of the Spanish empire.

Settlers invaded the islands and the aboriginal people slowly went extinct and little trace of their civilisation was left behind.   

The woman died more than 600 years ago, before the Canary archipelago was invaded by Spanish sailors. The civilisation went extinct soon afterwards and little traces remain of the Gaunche people 

Karina Osswald, of the University of Dundee, has now recreated the face of a Guanche woman using her skull.

She said: 'The true identity of the Guanche people has long remained a mystery – with the literary accounts of invading Spaniards being some of the only real information left about these intriguing indigenous people.

'During this project, I ended up learning so much about the Guanche and I hope her image will inspire others to find out more about this ancient population.'

The exact age of the skull remains unknown but it predates the extinction of Guanche people 600 years ago.

It was found in an unknown burial site on the Canaries around the 19th century and then donated to the University of Edinburgh Anatomical Museum.

Ms Osswald created the craniofacial reconstruction for her MSc Forensic Art and Facial Identification degree by taking 3D scans of the skull during a visit to the Anatomical Museum.

WHAT WAS GAUNCHE SOCIETY AND WHY DID IT GO EXTINCT?  

Statue of a Guanches chief Anaterue at Candelaria, Tenerife, Canary Islands

Guanches were the aboriginal inhabitants of the Canary Islands. They were hunter-gatherer tribes who lived a lifestyle much like it is supposed that people lived in the Stone Age.

In 2017, the first genome-wide data from the Guanches confirmed they were of North African origin. There are suggestions that the light-skinned people descended from the Berbers of North Africa, possibly Libya.

It is believed that they migrated to the archipelago around 1,000 BC from North Africa. What we do know of the mysterious people is derived from the work of Spanish Chroniclers and from archaeological discoveries. 

They were believed to have lived in caves and huts and had few tools due to the absence of ore to make metal on the volcanic islands. 

The native people had knowledge of basic farming and also made pottery.  Quite like ancient Egyptians, the Guanches were known to embalm and mummify their dead.

Dead Guanches of a higher social standing were left in caves whilst more lowly people were buried in the ground. 

Also like the Egyptians, although it is not known for sure, the Guanches may have made the mysterious pyramids strewn throughout Tenerife. There are several, with six in the town of Guimar.

Güimar pyramids in Tenerife, Canary islands. It is believed the Guanches built these

It is very possible the Guanches were responsible for the building of the structures as it is known they had basic knowledge of geometric shapes through their ‘pintaderas,’ which were some form of artistic seal made of pottery. 

The Guanches of Tenerife were split into nine kingdoms with a king known as a ‘mencey’ for each of these. 

The Guanches were the only native people known to have lived in the Macaronesian region before the arrival of Europeans, as there is no evidence that the other Macaronesian archipelagos (Azores, Cape Verde, Madeira) were inhabited before Europeans arrived. 

After the Spanish conquest of the Canaries they were ethnically and culturally absorbed by Spanish settlers, although elements of their culture survive to this day, intermixed within Canarian customs and traditions such as Silbo (the whistled language of La Gomera Island). 

The exact age of the skull remains unknown but it predates the extinction of Guanche people 600 years ago. It was found in an unknown burial site on the Canaries around the 19th century and then donated to the University of Edinburgh Anatomical Museum

The student said: 'What I've created is a best-guess estimate as to how one of these islanders would have looked.

'However, recent literature suggests that the appearances differed between each island of the Canary archipelago.

'This could mean, with further research, we may one day get a clearer idea of the individual differences between each Guanche island group.'

Her work is currently on display as part of this year's Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design Masters Show.