This article was originally published on WHerMoments
For centuries, our link to the people of the past has solely been through artwork and other speculative renderings. Now, thanks to modern reconstruction technology, archaeologists have discovered what our ancestors really looked like — and we've certainly come a long way since then.
1. Stonehenge Man
Unearthed in the area surrounding Stonehenge, this 5,500-year-old skeleton has come to be known as "Stonehenge Man."
His remains were found in an elaborate tomb in the 1860s and date the man's age of death at between 25 and 40 years old.
2. Avgi
This 9,000-year-old Greek woman is known as "Avgi."
She lived during the historical era in which the region was transitioning from a society of hunter-gatherers to one centered around agriculture, though she died young at age 18.
3. Bocksten Man
Known as the "Bocksten Man," his true identity is believed to be that of Simon Gudmundi, the dean of the Diocese of Linköping who was murdered on May 12, 1491.
Researchers believe that politician Hemming Gadh orchestrated Gudmundi's murder so that he could take his place as dean.
4. Whitehawk Woman
The remains of this 5,000-year-old Neolithic woman were discovered near Brighton in the U.K., giving us a glimpse into how different the people of Stone Age Britain looked then compared to now.
Known as the "Whitehawk Woman," she was buried with an infant in her arms, meaning she had likely died during childbirth.
5. Viking Mummy
This Swedish Viking's skeleton was so well-preserved that archaeologists could accurately recreate his skin, hair, and eye color.
He is believed to have lived sometime during the the eleventh century and died at age 45.
6. Estrid Sigfastdotter
Judging by the rune stones discovered near her resting place, this woman is believed to be Estrid Sigfastdotter, a wealthy Swedish socialite who lived during the Viking Age.
She lived to be an astonishing 80 years old, more than twice the standard life expectancy at the time.
7. Injured Briton
This Saxon-Era Briton is speculated to have been a soldier, as his bones suggest he was a strong man that dealt with years of violent injury.
He suffered from permanent abscesses, costing him many of his teeth and part of his jaw, and died at 45.
8. Huarmey Queen
Dubbed the "Huarmey Queen," the remains of this ancient Peruvian noblewoman were discovered in a tomb adorned with a treasure trove of valuables.
Forensic examination revealed that she put her upper body to great use throughout her life, likely as a highly skilled weaver.
9. Royal Archer
Though he may not look like it, this man was one of King Henry VIII's elite archers.
His was one of the 92 near-complete skeletons recovered in 1982 from the wreckage of the Mary Rose, which sank more than 300 years earlier in 1545.
10. Fever Victim
The first reconstruction of a layperson, this is Myrtis, an 11-year-old girl whose remains were found in a mass grave in Athens during the mid-1990s.
She is believed to have died from typhoid fever, which killed off one quarter of the city's population in the fifth century B.C.E.
11. Otzi the Iceman
This handsome fella is "Otzi the Iceman," Europe's oldest natural human mummy.
His 5,000-year-old remains were found in the Oztal Alps, and both his body and his reconstruction can be found on display at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, South Tyrol, Italy.
12. Neanderthal
The remains of this Neanderthal woman were discovered during an 1848 excavation in Gibraltar and date between 45,000 and 50,000 years old.
Most Europeans share 2-4 percent of their DNA with these pre Homo Sapiens.
13. Birger Jarl
This reconstruction depicts Birger Jarl, the Jarl of Sweden from 1248 to 1266 and the founder of its capital, Stockholm.
He was buried at Jälbolung in Västergötland where his tomb was later opened in 2002 for study.
14. Adelasius Ebalchus
Known as Adelasius Ebalchus, this young Swiss man is believed to have lived during the eighth century A.C.E.
His bones indicated a history of malnutrition and chronic infection, though, strangely, his teeth were in impeccable shape.
15. Vasa Sailors
These seamen were reconstructed from remains discovered aboard the ill-fated Swedish warship Vasa.
Built between 1626 and 1628, the ship sunk shortly after embarking on its maiden voyage, taking 15 crew members down with it.
16. Cro-Magnon
Discovered in France, the remains of this Cro-Magnon man indicate that the complexion of Cro-Magnons was much darker than that of modern-day Europeans.
For 10,000 years, these early Homo Sapiens lived alongside Neanderthals and even bred with them before the latter went extinct.
17. Hard Laborer
A Romano-British woman, her bones indicated she lived a difficult life of hard physical labor.
During her excavation, archaeologists also found nails in her grave, possibly a superstitious way to ensure that her spirit remained at rest.
18. Malnourished Man
This 3,700-year-old Briton is believed to have lived during the Bronze Age.
His skeleton showed evidence of malnutrition and anemia, and he died sometime between the ages of 25 and 35 years old.
19. Swabian Knot
Despite a well-off lifestyle, this Iron-Age Briton died relatively young, likely between the ages of 24 and 31 years old.
His teeth were spaced in a way uncommon of those who lived during this time period, and his "Swabian knot" hairstyle was similar to those of the era's Germanic tribes.
20. Bowman
Originally believed to have lived during the Middle Ages, researchers were able to narrow this man's lifetime to some point between 1470 and 1540.
His skeleton shows that he suffered from acromiale, possibly a result of long bow shooting.
21. King Tut
Along with recreations of ordinary people from the past, archaeologists have also begun working to reconstruct the remains of some of history's greatest figures.
King Tut's sarcophagus portrait became an enduring symbol of Egyptian wealth and artistry immediately upon its discovery in 1922, but the young king himself probably looked quite different in real life.
The Boy King
A product of extensive inbreeding, Tut had a number of genetic defects.
He only ruled Egypt for about a decade before either disease or an infected leg fracture led him to bite the dust.
22. Elizabeth I
Over her 44 years on the throne, this queen established herself as one of the most dominant monarchs in Great Britain's history.
While many portraits of her are still in existence, the painters made her look slightly younger.
Animatronic Monarch
Contemporary artist Mat Collishaw peeled back the aesthetic improvements to build an animatronic face of Elizabeth I.
The lifelike visage also includes minor features typical of that period, including smallpox scars and wisps of facial hair.
23. Julius Caesar
After the famed Roman general installed himself as a dictator, monuments to him spread throughout the empire.
His rule lasted for only two years before his assassination at the hands of the Senate.
The Real Roman
In 2018, the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden took a stab at recreating Caesar.
Noticing key similarities in various busts — including a peculiar bump at the top of the head — they produced this somewhat disturbing model of the general.
24. George Washington
Before and after his death, images of this Founding Father were everywhere in American culture.
However, due to a wide range of artistic interpretations, two portraits of Washington can look like totally different men.
Pride of Mount Vernon
Historians created an approximation of Washington's true face based on firsthand descriptions and the work of the more trustworthy portraitists of the day.
His most devoted followers consistently made note of his tall stature and intense gaze.
25. Cleopatra:
The love interest of Caesar ally Mark Antony, she had the tragic distinction of being the final ruler of Egypt before it fell to Rome.
Popular legend holds that the beautiful queen took her own life by allowing an asp to bite her.
Coin Portraits
However, our image of her is largely shaped by modern beauty standards.
Based on coin portraits from her lifetime, the real Cleopatra possessed a large jaw and a prominent hooked nose.
26. Maximilien Robespierre
This guillotine-happy lawyer engineered the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution.
After 17,000 men and women were killed in this period, Robespierre fell out of favor and ironically was executed himself.
Reign of Terror
Before his burial, Robespierre's executioners made a death mask. A team of forensic pathologists used it to mold a lifelike portrait of the man in 2013.
The recreation revealed many wrinkles and scars that Robespierre's portraitist kindly left out.
27. Jesus
Curiously, no physical descriptions of the founder of Christianity exist in the Gospels or any non-biblical sources.
Our popular conception of Jesus primarily comes from artistic renditions, which often give the Galilean overly European features.
The True Christ
In 2015, researchers analyzed the skulls of many adult male Israelis of that era.
Compiling the traits and features that the samples had in common, they generated a rough visual estimate of what Jesus may have looked like.
28. Nefertiti
In contrast to Tutankhamun's forgettable tenure as pharaoh, Nefertiti oversaw the most prosperous age of Ancient Egypt.
Many historians believe the queen disguised herself as a man to solidify her reign following her husband's death.
The Younger Lady
A mummy nicknamed "The Younger Lady," excavated in 2003, may very well be the remains of Queen Nefertiti. Paleoartist Elisabeth Daynes later scanned the body and crafted a 3-D likeness of the mummy.
Still, some historians insist it is another woman.
29. Johann Sebastian Bach
The most influential composer of the Baroque period, Bach penned over 1100 compositions over his lifetime.
His body was originally laid in an unmarked grave, but that changed 150 years later.
Musical Mastermind
The German town of Leipzig moved his remains to a vault in St. Thomas Church, despite protests that they had the wrong body.
However, a lifelike facial model based on the skull bears a remarkable similarity to the many portraits of Bach.
30. Augustus
After the death of his great-uncle Julius Caesar, Octavian hunted down the assassins and styled himself as the first Emperor of Rome.
Renaming himself Augustus, he returned the empire to peace and prosperity.
A Mighty Emperor
Modern artists combined busts of Augustus to produce this rather boyish depiction of the great emperor.
They based his reddish hair on pigmentation from ancient paintings of Octavian.
Looking at photos of more recent historical figures, it's stunning to realize that some were perfect doppelgangers of modern celebrities. Early psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach, for instance, looks just like Brad Pitt.
And he's not alone either...
Back in the 1800s, Matthew McConaughey had a secret double, and he looks alright, alright, alright.
The key difference is that Matthew drives a Lincoln, while his old-fashioned doppelgänger voted for Lincoln.
That bearded man looks like he could be Ellen DeGeneres' great-grandfather, but he's actually author Henry David Thoreau!
Ellen probably wouldn't mind some alone time out in the woods, but Thoreau wouldn't fare too well hosting a daytime talk show.
Eddie Murphy hasn't appeared in too many movies in recent years. Could it be because he's busy traveling back in time?
This picture makes it seem like a possibility. These two guys could easily be trading places.
A woman named Shannon Welch shared a childhood photo of her boyfriend online.
That part isn't too unusual, but what's eerie is how his middle school self is a dead ringer for Natalie Portman.
Nicolas Cage owns a lot of weird stuff: a pet octopus, a dinosaur skull, a couple of medieval castles.
So it's only fitting that he should also have a guy who looked just like him from 150 years ago.
Does Matt Damon have something to explain to his wife, Luciana? Fortunately, Will Hunting can rest easy in this case.
That smiling stud on the left is nothing more than a guy who's the spitting image of the A-list actor.
These days, people know Alec Baldwin for spoofing Donald Trump, but he actually bears a much bigger resemblance to another President — Millard Fillmore!
The not-so-famous Fillmore served less than a full term, which is why most Americans don't see the likeness.
Maggie Gyllenhaal is descended from Swedish nobility, but she looks like she could also be related to Rose Wilder Lane.
Daughter of Little House on the Prairie author Laura Ingalls Wilder, Rose helped found the modern libertarian movement.
The King of Pop went through a ton of looks, so we can imagine he "borrowed" a few from other people. Is it possible this portrait was Michael Jackson's style muse?
Never say never in Neverland.
It's hard to say what's better, the fact that young Leo DiCaprio has a woman lookalike, or that her name is Judy Zipper?
If Judy fell in love with Leo on the Titanic, we bet she would have made room for him on that floating door.
A Lannister always pays his debts, so Peter Dinklage shouldn't mind emptying out his wallet for this stunning portrait.
Capturing the likeness of court jester Sebastián de Morra, it would look right at home on the set of Game of Thrones.
Here are two doppelgängers for the price of one! Andy Samberg and Daniel Radcliffe found their carbon copies in this vintage pic, and it's almost hard to believe.
Maybe Harry Potter cooked up another Polyjuice potion!
Gender-bending lookalikes are often the most impressive. One Redditor could hardly believe his eyes when he found an old photo of his mother that looked uncannily like Barack Obama.
On the other hand, she appears to have a much more adventurous hat collection.
Mark Zuckerberg reigns over his Facebook empire, so it's only fitting that he resembles a real-life monarch.
He and King Philip IV of Spain share many features, though Mark lacks the prominent Habsburg lip that characterized many royal European families.
When Christina Ostrom dug through old family photos, she came across this gem of her grandparents, who look like Hugh Hefner and a much older Taylor Swift!
Don't know about you, but they're looking 82.
Is this what Jack Sparrow looked like before he turned to piracy?
In reality, Michael William Johnstone shared this headshot of his grandfather, who was a dead ringer for Johnny Depp — but maybe even more dapper.
We wonder what Justin Timberlake did before his solo career, and we're not talking about NSYNC.
Based of off this 1800s mugshot, we can't help but wonder if he had a lucrative bank-robbing career back in the day.
Lots of people try to discredit celebrity lookalike photos, but this picture has the stamp of approval from the New York Public Library itself! Titled "Harlem Loiterers," the 1939 image features the spitting image of Jay-Z.
Too bad Beyonce's double is nowhere in sight!
History buffs may recognize that congressman Thaddeus Stevens has the same look as famous tough guy Tommy Lee Jones.
With that in mind, it's no wonder that Steven Spielberg cast Jones to play Stevens in his historical masterpiece, Lincoln.
A wild and crazy guy like Steve Martin has no problem dressing up in wacky outfits, but he didn't need to in this case! The figure on the left is actually a woman from the Victorian Era.
Though she looks a lot like Steve, she would likely blush at many of his jokes.