You may be surprised to know that this is NOT an accurate depiction of King Tut.

But thanks to groundbreaking digital facial reconstruction technology, these long dead people have no choice but to show their true faces.

Forensic scientists examine the skulls of the deceased, using the grooves and bumps along the bone as a foundation for the layers of 3D flesh. Some of the subjects were buried with “death masks” (a plaster mold over the face) which provide an even more accurate starting point. While the technology is not a perfect process, it has brought us closer than ever to seeing what people like Mozart, Cleopatra, and Jolly Ol’ St. Nicholas actually looked like when they walked the earth hundreds or even thousands of years ago.