Meet Thankerton Man

He lived and died more than 4,000 years ago, but thanks to modern forensic techniques this one-time resident of what is now Thankerton has now been brought startlingly back to “life”.

The man’s skeleton was discovered in a stone burial cist at Boatbridge Quarry nearly half a century ago, and only now have experts at Dundee University managed a convincing reconstruction of what he would have looked like.

His reconstructed likeness is part of an important display at the newly-opened Biggar and Upper Clydesdale Museum.

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Said to be unusually tall for someone of that era – he as about 5 feet 11ins – the man is thought to have been aged between 18 and 25.

“Given its age, the skeleton of Thankerton Man was in excellent condition, which allowed us to get a strong impression of how he may have looked,” said Caroline Erolin, lecturer in forensic and medical art at Dundee University.

“Once we built the basic shape of his face we then looked at historical data to get a better idea of how a man would have looked at that time. For instance, we know they had the ability to shave,” she said.

The Copper Age man is a spectacular draw at the just-open museum, which is open 10am to 5pm from Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm, and Sunday 1pm to 5pm.

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