At first glance, it looks like a photo of an modern-day tribesperson, wearing a decorative headdress and an earnest expression.
But this is actually an eerily-realistic synthetic reconstruction of a woman from Belgium who lived and died 10,500 years ago.
Scientists and artists have reconstructed the face of the Margaux woman, whose remains were found in a cave in Belgium’s Meuse Valley.
Part of an early civilization of hunter-gatherers, she had ‘average skin colour’, much lighter than expected, and light blueish-grey eyes.
The eerily-realistic bust also sports a shaven head, a leather feathered hairband and decorative markings on her shoulders made with ochre and charcoal.
A homo sapien just like us, she would have roamed the densely-forested lands and rivers in the search for food shortly after the last ice age.
For now, she’s known as the Margaux woman, but the public are invited to choose a proper name for her.
Experts say she belonged to the same Western European hunter-gatherer population as the famous Cheddar Man from Gough’s Cave, Somerset.
The incredible reconstruction, mostly made of a combination of resin and silicone, reveals a middle-aged woman with ‘average skin colour’ and blue-grey eyes
The researchers were able to extract well-preserved DNA from the skull to learn more about her appearance, including eye and skin colour
Skeletal remains of the Mesolithic woman were originally discovered in 1988 in the Margaux cave near the Belgian city of Dinant.
Around 35 years later, researchers were able to extract well-preserved DNA from the skull to learn more about her appearance, including eye and skin colour.
Like the Cheddar Man, the Belgian woman had blue eyes, but her skin was slightly lighter than that of many other individuals from the same period.
‘This indicates greater diversity in skin pigmentation than we previously thought,’ said Maïté Rivollat, chief geneticist of the project.
Two Dutch twin brothers – Adrie and Alfons Kennis, described as ‘palaeo-anthropological artists’ – then used the insights to create the reconstruction, mostly made of a combination of resin and silicone.
The Kennis brothers have made many previous reconstructions of Neanderthals and other prehistoric hominids, including Ötzi the Iceman.
Professor Isabelle De Groote, project leader and researcher in human origins at Ghent University, said this woman was about 35 to 60 at time of death.
‘In anthropology, it is difficult to be more accurate than this with just a preserved skull and jaw,’ she told MailOnline.
Researchers from the ROAM project (a Regional Outlook on Ancient Migration), an interdisciplinary project involving archaeologists, bioanthropologists, geneticists and artists, collaborated with Dutch artists Kennis & Kennis on the reconstruction. Pictured is the unveiling in Dinant, Belgium, June 16, 2025
Hunter-gatherer communities like this one were common throughout Europe 10,000 years ago before the shift to farming around 7,000 years ago
But it is unclear what the ancient lady died of, as the skull does not reveal ‘an obvious sign of death’.
‘It is rare that we see this in a skeleton because most causes of death do not show on the skeleton but we do not see a blow to the head in her, for example,’ Professor De Groote added.
Naturally, around 10,000 years ago, Europe was a very different place to what it is today, the academic explained.
‘The Mesolithic people of Belgium, around 10,000 years ago, lived as hunter-gatherers in forested landscapes,’ she told MailOnline.
‘They settled in campsites such as Abri du Pape, where they built hearths and crafted flint tools.
‘Their diet was diverse, including wild game like deer and boar, fish, birds, and plant foods such as hazelnuts, which were a key resource.
‘They used animal parts for clothing, tools, and bindings, and may have domesticated dogs.
‘Their lifestyle was closely tied to the natural environment, relying on seasonal resources and skilled foraging and hunting.
This sculpture depicts the face of Cheddar Man, a Mesolithic hunter whose remains were found at Gough’s Cave in Cheddar Gorge, Somerset in 1903
‘They would have moved around a lot, but returned to their favourite campsites and the burials caves.’
Through an online poll, the public are invited to choose a name for the woman out of three options – Margo, Freya and Mos’anne.
Margo refers to the cave in which she was found, while Freya and Mos’anne refer to the hills and river basin in which the caves are located, respectively.
People can vote for their favourite name until the end of June by clicking ‘vote’ at the top of the project’s website.
Then from September, she will be visiting museums across Belgium as part of a travelling exhibition.
The full list of locations includes University of Ghent, Andenne Museum Space and Gallo-Romeins Museum in Tongeren.
Britain began the move from ‘hunter-gatherer’ to farming and settlements about 7,000 years ago as part of the ‘Neolithic Revolution’
The Neolithic Revolution was the world’s first verifiable revolution in agriculture.
It began in Britain between about 5000 BC and 4500 BC but spread across Europe from origins in Syria and Iraq between about 11000 BC and 9000 BC.
The period saw the widespread transition of many disparate human cultures from nomadic hunting and gathering practices to ones of farming and building small settlements.
Stonehenge, the most famous prehistoric structure in Europe, possibly the world, was built by Neolithic people, and later added to during the early Bronze Age
The revolution was responsible for turning small groups of travellers into settled communities who built villages and towns.
Some cultures used irrigation and made forest clearings to better their farming techniques.
Others stored food for times of hunger, and farming eventually created different roles and divisions of labour in societies as well as trading economies.
In the UK, the period was triggered by a huge migration or folk-movement from across the Channel.
The Neolithic Revolution saw humans in Britain move from groups of nomadic hunter-gatherers to settled communities. Some of the earliest monuments in Britain are Neolithic structures, including Silbury Hill in Wiltshire (pictured)
Today, prehistoric monuments in the UK span from the time of the Neolithic farmers to the invasion of the Romans in AD 43.
Many of them are looked after by English Heritage and range from standing stones to massive stone circles, and from burial mounds to hillforts.
Stonehenge, the most famous prehistoric structure in Europe, possibly the world, was built by Neolithic people, and later finished during the Bronze Age.
Neolithic structures were typically used for ceremonies, religious feasts and as centres for trade and social gatherings.
