It was a day filled with wonder and intrigue at Wits Faculty of Health Sciences as they hosted professor Caroline Wilkinson, a British anthropologist and lecturer at the Liverpool John Moores University.
Wilkinson was invited to impart her knowledge about everything to do with craniofacial reconstruction. The seminar room was brought to silence on 3 March as Wilkinson began to explain what she does for a living and how her knowledge has helped people understand the importance of craniofacial identification.
With a PhD in facial anthropology, Professor Wilkinson is well-known for her work in the field of facial reconstruction. She developed a 3D computerised facial reconstruction system that has aided in identifying individuals.
Prof Wilkinson said she was invited to come to Wits to talk on the matter as it is a growing field in South Africa. She thought the symposium was a great way to get like minds together in one room to talk about a common interest that can educate and enlighten so many. She went on to simply explain that what she does, is deal with the head and the skull. “This would include depicting people who are dead and also identifying the living through growth,” said Wilkinson.
Anatomical Sciences graduate, Stacey Lander, who attended the symposium, said that the talk appealed to her because Wilkinson is an international speaker whom she has admired for quite some time. “The information I received here is fantastic and will work towards my studies,” said Lander.
Prof Wilkinson concluded that she has worked on some interesting cases and that to get good results, she needed properly detailed images of a person. This would include pictures of the face angled differently, to gauge the characteristics of the person. “Results will be great when it comes to the evaluation and it is a great way to show the progression of the face.”
