The Lady and the Medal

For these days I had the great joy of traveling again to Peru, it is the ninth time I went to that wonderful country and on this occasion things happened in style with the illustrious company of my beautiful wife. There I revealed the face of a historical figure, known as the Lady of the Four Tupus (Brooches), and I also received an important honor.

The Lady of the Four Tupus was discovered in 2016 and is considered one of the ten greatest triumphs of archeology that year. The name refers to four pins or brooches (tupus) that were found together to her body and that served as a prop for the clothing.

Stepes of facial reconstruction

The reconstruction project of his face was a partnership of the Archaeological Zone of Caral, the University Inca Garcilaso de la Vega and myself. We started the talks in 2016, signed the documents in 2017 and the presentation took place a few days ago in the premises of the Ministry of Culture of Peru, in Lima.

Taking photos of the skull to the 3D photogrammetry

The revelation of the face was made during a press conference and the work was published in several languages, 20 altogether so far (English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Arabic, Azerbaijani, Burmese, Bulgarian, Chinese, French, Hungarian, Italian, Lithuanian, Persian, Polish, Kyrgyz, Russian, Turkish, EN Braille and Greek).

Video with the steaps of forensic facial reconstruction

I was quite satisfied with the repercussion, even more for seeing a translation in other languages of my speech, which is always curious and pleasant.

Official image

Two days later arrived the great moment to receive the Inca Medal Garcilaso de la Vega. It is offered to personalities who contribute to the sciences and the arts. In my case, I received by the work related to the facial reconstructions of great historical and religious personalities from Peru, as well my life trajectory, according to the documents that were given to me.

My wife and me (at center) at Ministry of Culture of Peru

I do not know how to translate the feelings that took me during that moment. I remembered my childhood in poverty, the struggle of my mother and my brothers to survive with dignity. I remembered that I had a great fear to travel, and thankfully I did it in 2006 for the first time, almost forced of (lol). I remembered the difficulties inherent in my anxiety and panic attacks in the past, the strength I received from friends, family, and members of the computer community over the years. Of course, there was also room to remember those who have always tried to humiliate me throughout this story, especially the individuals connected to the academy, attentive to my lack of formal education in the fields in which I excelled thanks to hard work.

Talking with reporters during the press conference

Receiving further recognition from a higher education institution has in a sense put an ends in this discussion and brought more peace into my heart to the point of completely forgiving the uneasiness born of this egotistical swoop and now I'm enjoying victory in all its length.

For now, dear reader, that's it. Thanks for reading and see you next post!