Faces of ancient mummies, hidden for centuries, finally revealed through digital reconstructions

Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) in the United Kingdom announced in an August press release that specialists in its Face Lab were able to digitally extract face masks from corpses found in the Cordillera Oriental region of eastern Colombia.

The results were presented in August at the XI World Congress on Mummy Studies in Cuzco, Peru.

Researchers analyzed four corpses that are held in the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History's (ICANH) collection.

The earliest individual dates to around 1216, while the "newest" mummy is believed to have died around 1797. 

The masks were made directly on the decedents' skulls, covering their jaw and face.

Photos show the four reconstructed faces and corresponding skull scans, revealing what the men may have looked like during their time on Earth. 

Ancient Colombians crafted intricate funerary masks that were very realistic, according to LJMU.

"They crafted masks for their dead with such precision that the mummified bodies appear to be alive," the university said.

Researcher Jessica Liu told Fox News Digital the most surprising aspect of the project was the different shapes of the heads.

"The four heads were quite different in sizes, and their crania were quite different in shape," she said.

Researcher Felipe Cárdenas-Arroyo of the Academia Colombiana de Historia said the masks were crafted using "extraordinary workmanship."

"[They are], so far, the only ones known to exist in Colombia," he observed.