IN AN incredibly haunting exercise in the capabilities of facial recognition technology, British researchers have given us the chance to look at a man who lived 700 years ago.

The above picture may look like a photograph, but it’s actually the digital facial reconstruction of a male skeleton buried in the 13th century.

The remains of the man — dubbed Context 958 by researchers — were uncovered when one of the largest medieval hospital graveyards in Britain was discovered and later excavated between 2010 and 2012.

Scientists have studied Context 958 and gone through the process to bring him back to life in an effort to learn more about the lives of England’s poor.

“They represent a sector of the medieval population which is quite hard to learn about: ordinary poor people,” said lead researcher Professor John Robb in a statement.

Most historical records are of the wealthy, in particular their financial and legal pursuits. But if you were among the poor working class you were likely forgotten by the history records and thus remain more of a mystery to research historians.

The resurrected remains are one display at this year’s Cambridge Science Festival at a venue sitting atop of where they were once buried.

Professor John Robb is from the University of Cambridge’s Division of Archaeology and is the principal investigator for a current project at the university called; “After the plague: health and history in medieval Cambridge”.

The project has involved reconstructing the appearance of Mr 958 and trying to piece together the rudiments of his life story by analysing his bones and teeth.

“Context 958 was probably an inmate of the Hospital of St John, a charitable institution which provided food and a place to live for a dozen or so indigent townspeople — some of whom were probably ill, some of whom were aged or poor and couldn’t live alone,” Prof Robb said.

According to the BBC, if a boy born in 13th century England made it to 20 years of age, he could hope to live to about 45. And that appears to have been the fate of Professor Robb’s posthumous patient.

“Context 958 was over 40 when he died, and had quite a robust skeleton with a lot of wear and tear from a hard working life,” Prof Robb said.

“One interesting feature is that he had a diet relatively rich in meat or fish, which may suggest that he was in a trade or job which gave him more access to these foods than a poor person might have normally had. He had fallen on hard times, perhaps through illness, limiting his ability to continue working or through not having a family network to take care of him in his poverty.”