Dumfries skull cast of Robert Burns used for TV facial reconstruction to be aired next week

Jan 18 2013 by Sharon Liptrott, Dumfries & Galloway Standard

Dumfries Museum staff are looking forward to a TV documentary on Tuesday which will put “flesh” on the bones of Robert Burns.

Experts visited the town’s Robert Burns Centre in 2011 with state-of-the-art forensic technology to record minute details from a cast of the poet’s skull which is held there.

They were told it would help expert Professor Caroline Wilkinson and her team at The University of Dundee to reconstruct a life-size model of Robert Burns’ head – showing exactly how he looked.

And with his iconic image everywhere in Dumfries - where he lived, wrote, died and is buried – it is causing quite a stir.

A museum spokeswoman said: “We haven’t seen the finished image and are looking forward to it.”

The documentary, In Search of Robert Burns, is being presented by actor David Hayman who came up with the reconstruction idea. It will be aired on STV at 8pm on January 22 and repeated on Burns Night.

Caroline Wilkinson, professor of craniofacial identification, said: “This project has been quite a challenge and an enormous responsibility. This 3D depiction is as accurate as possible based on the available information and shows Burns in his full living glory.”