The Romanovs: Forensic Facial Reconstructions & the Mystery of Skeleton #6
The Mystery of the Romanov Bodies
The mystery of what happened to the Romanov family was one of the greatest historical questions of the 20th century. For decades, no one knew the answer to where the Imperial family was located after the Russian Revolution in 1918.
It wasn’t until 1979 that the world finally got some answers. Russian investigators found what they thought might be the final resting place of the family, in the woods outside of Yekaterinburg. Their findings had to remain secret for many years, as Russia was still in the Soviet Union. The bodies were only exhumed and examined in 1991, with the findings finally released to the public.
The First Romanov Gravesite
Photo taken in 1919 by Investigator Nicholas Sokolov. He suspected this location to be the gravesite. Tragically, his team didn’t think to look under the bridge. The gravesite was subsequently not found until 1979.
DNA and skeletal analysis confirmed they were the lost family, but provided an incomplete picture - only 5 of the 7 Romanovs could be identified. The grave contained the bones of Tsar Nicholas, Tsarina Alexandra, and three of the daughters, two of whom they identified certainly as Olga and Tatiana. The third was a mystery - it was either Maria or Anastasia but they weren’t sure.
The forensic reconstructions of the known bodies found in the first gravesite. Reconstructions made by Dr. Sergey Nitkin, the Russian medical examiner. Note that the Russians believe it is the body of Anastasia in the first site.
This discovery only added fuel to the fire that members of the family may have truly escaped.
However, in 2007 another piece of the puzzle popped into place. Investigators announced that they had discovered two additional skeletons, separated from the original gravesite. The site contained bones from a boy between the ages of 12 and 15, definitely the body of Alexei, and a young woman between 15 and 24. Now, Anastasia was 17 and Maria was 19 when they disappeared - both still within the range of possibilities.
Map showing the first and second gravesites, in relation to one another.
In 1994, Russian medical examiner Dr. Sergey Nikitin created forensic facial reconstructions of the bodies found in the first gravesite, including 3 of the family’s attendants. So we don’t have reconstructions of the 2 bodies found later in 2007.
I want to really dig into the mystery of what examiners call “Skeleton number 6” - the one that belongs to either Anastasia or Maria. The Russians firmly believe that Skeleton Number 6 belongs to Anastasia, but the controversy is still raging. At one point, Skeleton number 6 was even identified as Tatiana, but later ruled out due to height.
Dr. Nitkin’s forensic reconstruction of Skeleton #6, and my re-creation of its lifelike appearance. To me, this is the spitting image of Anastasia Romanov.
Even with all of the photographs we have of the family, this girl is just hard to identify. The Romanov siblings all look incredibly similar, and there are very few images of them after their imprisonment. Anastasia was only 15 when the family was moved into captivity, so the young girl we see in photographs probably looks different from what she would look like as a more mature adult.
Of course, forensic models aren’t always accurate. There are certain things that skull reconstructions can’t touch, like the soft-tissue features. The precise shape of the lips, Face fullness in certain areas, etc.
While I’m not a forensic scientist, to me, this reconstruction of Skeleton 6 is almost certainly of Anastasia. When brought to life, it looks like the more mature version of the young Anastasia we see in photos.
Since I believe we are missing Maria from these images, I’ve also made a photo composite of her. What do you think?
I’ve also made a photo-composite of Alexei, since a forensic reconstruction was never made for him. Unfortunately, his body was completely cremated and nothing remains.
