Mysterious 1,800-Year-Old Roman Statue Unearthed From UK's Parking Lot

A construction worker discovered a mysterious 1,800-year-old Roman statue while digging up a parking lot on the grounds of a huge country house in England. The marble head of the statue was found in April 2023 during the construction of a parking lot at Burghley House, a 16th-century mansion located in the county of Lincolnshire. Two weeks later, a marble bust from the same statue was found, the Burghley House Preservation Trust announced in a press release.

Greg Crawley, excavator driver told ABC News that it was a real shock when he first spotted the items. He said that he couldn't believe when he was told what exactly he had stumbled upon that day. 

"I had a real shock as the digger bucket rolled over what I thought was a big stone to reveal a face. When I picked it up, I realised it was the head of a statue," Mr Crawley said. "I couldn't believe it when they told me it was a Roman marble statue. It was an amazing feeling to have found something so old and special - my best-ever discovery."

Both items were taken to a professional conservator who was able to carefully clean and consolidate the figure before reassembling both pieces as they had been intended. 

"Both ancient artefacts were swiftly sent off to a professional conservator to be cleaned with meticulous care and consolidated into their original form. Following expert examination, it was deemed the ancient relics dating back to the First or Second Century," Burghley House wrote in the caption on Instagram. 

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The Burghley House also told ABC News, "After being cleaned, experts dated the sculpture from the First or Second Century, with an iron dowel added later, allowing it to be attached to a bust or pedestal," said Burghley House. "This type of adaptation was often carried out by Italian dealers in antiquities during the late 18th Century to make excavated ancient fragments more attractive to aristocrats travelling in Italy on what was known as the Grand Tour."

The officials believe that the 9th Earl may have brought the sculpture back to Burghley after his Grand Tour of Italy. However, the mystery remains as to how the head and bust ended up buried in the park or how long they have been hidden underground. 

The statue is displayed within the dramatic Hell staircase at the Burghley House.