On October 11, 2024, it will be exactly 600 years since the death of Jan Žižka from Trocnov. Already ten years ago, an exact digital copy of the so-called Čáslav calva, i.e. part of the skull, which is believed to be the authentic remains of the famous warlord, was created. This year, the digital model served an international team of experts (Brazil, the Czech Republic, Italy) to carry out a scientific approximation of the face of a six-century dead historical figure.
During the reconstruction of the church of St. Peter and Paul in Čáslav, on November 21, 1910, a walled niche was discovered in the north wall of the tower. It contained skeletal remains, a larger fragment of pottery, disintegrated fabric and perhaps two shingled wooden plates. Almost immediately, a lively discussion broke out about whether it could be the remains of Jan Žižka. The first anthropological opinion was drawn up by the founder of Czech anthropology, Jindřich Matiegka, but his opinion was not accepted by other experts. The leading Czech anthropologist Emanuel Vlček, who conducted a new anthropological and medical survey of the Časlav discovery, made a fundamental contribution to the issue of the identification of the calf with the personality of Jan Žižka. Based on the results of his research and identification with historical events, Professor Vlček came to the opinion that in the case of the Čáslav calva, it is the authentic remains of Jan Žižka. The most recent research, which has not yet been published in the professional press, was carried out by the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. Using the radiocarbon dating method, it was found that the observed individual (Čáslav Kalva) could have died around 1424, i.e. at the same time as Jan Žižka from Trocnov.
When working with the skeletal material, which is attributed to the famous warlord from Trocnov, the latest procedure of forensic reconstruction based on the skull, called “structural approximation”, was used. The method was created during the study and attempt to approximate the face of St. Ludmila. It is based on statistical analysis of tomographic scans of living people and digital models of skulls from archaeological research around the world. Metrical dependencies in the facial part of the human skull and also between the bones and soft tissues of a person, defined precisely by structural approximation, are used today by specialists in criminology and medicine. What was defined in the study of the bones of St. Ludmila, the so-called Przemysl people of Olomouc, and now also Jan Žižka, today helps living patients in the operating rooms of hospitals all over the world. Forensic examination and approximation of the face based on the skeletal material from Čáslav was carried out thanks to the computer program OrtogOnBlender, which is free of charge (Open Source software) and available with full Czech support to all interested in 3D documentation and doctors in the Czech Republic from April 2024.
The resulting face approximation is presented in two variants. In the first case, it is a fully objective depiction according to forensic scientific procedures without minor facial details, about which we know nothing concrete. That’s why it’s only in gray, with closed eyes and no hair or beard. The second approach already shows a full-fledged face in color, supplemented with a number of speculative details (such as eye color, hair color, hairstyle, etc.). This last stage of facial reconstruction is already largely an artistic contribution. We have no information from research or written sources about eye color, hair color, hair length, hairstyle and exact skin tone. These speculative additions arose from the interdisciplinary discussion of all interested experts (anthropologists, archaeologists and historians).
The following collaborated on the approximation of Jan Žižka’s face:
- Cicero da Costa Moraes – 3D designer, ARC team Brazil
- Jiří Šindelář – geoinformatics scientist, non-governmental non-profit research organization Our History
- Matěj Šindelář – specialist in 3D photogrammetry, Our history
- Zuzana Thomová – archaeologist, South Bohemian Museum in České Budějovice
- Jakub Smrčka – director of the Hussite Museum in Tábor
- Thiago Beaini – chirurg, Federal University of Uberlândia, Brazílie
- Francesco Maria Galassi – anthropologist, (FAPAB) Research Center, Avola, Italy
Author of visual materials: Cicero da Costa Moraes
08.10.2024 Bc. David Hocke
