Manchester Method
Definition
Three-dimensional facial reconstruction technique developed by Richard Neave at the University of Manchester, building clay muscle by muscle on a skull cast with tissue-depth markers.
- Developer
- Richard Neave, University of Manchester
- Category
- Three-dimensional facial reconstruction
- Core technique
- Clay muscle-by-muscle build on a skull cast
- Guided by
- Tissue-depth markers at standard landmark points
Common questions
How does the Manchester method differ from average tissue-depth reconstruction?+
Rather than only pinning tissue-depth markers and stretching a surface between them, the Manchester approach builds each facial muscle in clay following its actual anatomical origin and insertion, so the final surface emerges from modelled musculature rather than interpolation between depth points alone.
What is the reconstruction used for once completed?+
It is typically used for identification appeals in unidentified-remains cases, producing a recognisable likeness that can be circulated to the public or compared against missing-person photographs, rather than as evidence of cause or manner of death.
Related terms
- Anatomical Landmarks
- Fixed cranial reference points (about 25 are used) including glabella, nasion, gonion, gnathion, zygion and prosthion that must align with corresponding soft-tissue...
- AnthropoScope
- Computerised three-dimensional skull and facial reconstruction system using laser scans of the skull and soft-tissue prediction from CT databases.
- FACES
- American computerised composite and reconstruction software (IQ Biometrix) used to generate two-dimensional faces from cranial and witness data.
- Glabella
- The midline prominence on the frontal bone between the superciliary arches. Scored 1 (flat, female) to 5 (highly prominent, male). Correlated with...
- Gonion
- The most posterior and inferior point of the mandibular angle, bilaterally. Used in superimposition to assess the width of the jaw angle...
- Nasion
- The anatomical landmark at the junction of the nasal bones and the frontal bone (the bridge of the nose). One of the...
- Plastic vs Sculptured Reconstruction
- Plastic (two-dimensional) reconstruction draws the face on a photograph or sketch of the skull; sculptured (three-dimensional) reconstruction builds the face physically in...
- Soft-Tissue Thickness
- Distance from a cranial landmark to the overlying skin surface, measured in millimetres; varies with sex, age, BMI and population, and forms...
- Superimposition
- Overlay technique that matches an unidentified skull with an antemortem photograph of a suspected individual to test anatomical consistency.
- Video Superimposition
- The updated superimposition workflow using a motorised skull turntable, a calibrated video camera, and real-time electronic mixing of the skull video image...