The mummy of the "SaltMan 4" was discovered in the salt mines of Chehrabad, in northern Iran, in 2004, and since then has been extensively studied by an international research team, which established that the found “Salt Man” was a young miner aged about 16 years, who died as a result of a mine collapse in 405-318 BC. As a result of the collapse, the miner's skeleton was deformed, and muscle and adipose tissue decreased in size due to dehydration caused by immersion in salt, which preserved his body, clothes and accessories for 24 centuries.
Scientists of the Saint-Petersburg State University of Industrial Technologies and Design (Ƶ) together with specialists of the Ivanovo State Polytechnic University (ISPU) for the first time in the world managed to historically reliably recreate and preserve mummy clothes in a digital environment. The costume of the “SaltMan 4” includes a tunic, trousers, a fur cape, a belt, a knife in a sheath, two ceramic vessels, leather shoes and two silver earrings. The resulting 3D model is one of the most accurate existing digital replicas of ancient clothing. This was achieved through the use of high-precision measurements, computed tomography, microscopy, detailed descriptions and a significant number of digital photographs. To study the digital replica of the “SaltMan 4”, scientists have developed an innovative technology for the reconstruction of archaeological clothing, combining 3D modeling methods, computer-aided design systems and reverse engineering. The unique preservation of the mummy and a large amount of research data helped scientists in developing a new technology, the results of which are presented at the exhibition "Death in Salt" , which opened at the German Mining Museum. Maria Moskvina, one of the authors of the technology, associate professor of the Department of Design and Technology of Sewing Products of Ƶ, commented on the news of the discovery: “The result of the reconstruction is a historically reliable representation of how the “SaltMan 4” costume looked 24 centuries ago. Now you can see things that could not have been seen before and save artifacts in digital format”.
For the first time, advanced methods of digitalization and engineering were combined by scientists in a single reconstruction process, which included three stages. At the first stage, the avatar - a digital double of a human figure - was developed using special software for parametric 3D modeling, which is also used in biomedical engineering. At the second stage, the patterns of clothing parts were developed in the same way as in the modern clothing industry. Computer simulations were used to put clothes on the avatar. The accessories were manually modeled from numerous photographs in order to meet the high standards of accuracy applied in computer-aided design systems. At the third stage, the virtual artifacts were painted in accordance with the original colors and textures. Special attention is paid to textile materials, because each thread of the virtual tunic, trousers and belt has the same thickness, direction and angle of twist as the original one.
Alexey Moskvin, one of its authors, associate professor of the Department of Design and Technology of Sewing Products of Ƶ, told about the background of the development: “Textile materials are destroyed over time. Therefore, historical costumes found in the archaeological context are significantly damaged, are in a dilapidated, fragmentary state. Extremely rarely, the conditions of natural conservation ensure good preservation of textile fibers and threads. One example is “SaltMan 4”. “Digitization of historical artifacts is an urgent interdisciplinary field of research that uses scientifically based methods of reconstruction in virtual reality (VR) and opens up new means of presenting historical heritage,” commented Professor of ISPU Viktor Kuzmichev, a participant in the project.
The results of the study are published in the publication .
Scientists of Ƶ express their gratitude for the cooperation to Thomas Stöllner (German Mining Museum / Ruhr University in Bochum), Abolfazl Aali (Archaeological Museum of Zanjan), Karina Grömer (Natural History Museum of Vienna), Gabriela Russ-Popa (Austrian Academy of Sciences), Lena M Öhrström (University of Zurich) and Natasha Bagerpour Kashani (Archaeological Museum of Frankfurt).


