In 1901, archeologists excavated a Neolithic site in Cuween Hill Chambered Cairn, Orkney, Scotland. They found the remains of eight humans and 23 canines which they believed to be ritually buried.

Now, the Historic Environment Scotland (HES) is using modern technologies to give the public a better idea of how Neolithic people lived.

In its most recent project, it used 3D printing to shed some light on exactly what the 4,000-year-old Neolithic pet dogs looked like. This is the first time an animal from the Neolithic period has been reconstructed using modern technologies.

“Just as they’re treasured pets today, dogs clearly had an important place in Neolithic Orkney, as they were kept and trained as pets and guards and perhaps used by farmers to help tend sheep,” says HES interpretation manager Steve Farrar.

“But the remains discovered at Cuween Hill suggest that dogs had a particularly special significance for the farmers who lived around and used the tomb about 4,500 years ago. Maybe dogs were their symbol or totem, perhaps they thought of themselves as the ‘dog people’.”

Along with 3D scanning the dog skull, whose 3D model researchers shared with the public, researchers also took detailed 3D scans of the burial site.

As part of its project to use modern technologies to educate, HES commissioned forensic artist, Amy Thornton, to recreate the face of one of the Neolithic dogs from its ancient skull.