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1 - The human face

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2013

Caroline Wilkinson
Affiliation:
University of Manchester
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Summary

‘Out of the great number of faces that have been formed since the creation of the world, no two have been so exactly alike, but that the usual and common eye would discover a difference between them.’

William Hogarth (1753)

No two faces are alike, not even those of identical twins. Each face is unique. The human face is one of the most important social tools. An enormous variety of communication signals are produced using the face and it governs the expression of emotion, interest, desire and attention. We use our faces to attract, repel, scare, soothe and entertain. The face suggests details such as age, gender, culture, health and ethnic group. It is usually the first part of the body that we notice and the only part that we address. We are each capable of perceiving the smallest variation between faces and it is this ability that allows us to carry out personal recognition and identification. As adults we recognise and differentiate hundreds of faces of our family, friends, colleagues, famous people etc. This is illustrated by our ability to distinguish eventually the faces of identical twins (see Fig. 1.1). Even though the faces of identical twins are remarkably similar and they share the same genetic profile, their faces are in fact slightly different and people who know identical twins very well can distinguish them from one another.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2004

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  • The human face
  • Caroline Wilkinson, University of Manchester
  • Book: Forensic Facial Reconstruction
  • Online publication: 05 June 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107340961.003
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  • The human face
  • Caroline Wilkinson, University of Manchester
  • Book: Forensic Facial Reconstruction
  • Online publication: 05 June 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107340961.003
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The human face
  • Caroline Wilkinson, University of Manchester
  • Book: Forensic Facial Reconstruction
  • Online publication: 05 June 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107340961.003
Available formats
×