Construction workers discover 1,800-year-old Roman statue in parking lot

A Roman statue, which is approximately 1,800-year-old, was found in the parking lot being built by construction workers in the United Kingdom.

The marble head of a Roman lady was excavated by the digger driver Greg Crawley at 16th-century country estate Burghley House in Peterborough, England, last year when he was carrying out the renovation works.

After two weeks, a bust was also discovered close to the place where the original Roman statue was found. A conservator cleaned, reassembled and examined the relics and said that the sculpture belonged to the 1st century or 2nd century.

As per the experts, an iron dowel was added to the statue which allowed it to remain attached to the pedestal or bust - following the pattern which was adopted by the Italian dealers historically in antiquities during the late 18th century when items were sold to the aristocrats travelling in Italy.

“It is believed that it was during one of the ninth Earl’s two tours to Italy in the 1760s, when he purchased many antiquities, that he brought the sculpture back to Burghley,” said the Burghley House, in a statement.

Estate calls excavation of head and bust as 'complete mystery'

The ninth Earl of Exeter Brownlow Cecil, an avid traveller and fine art collector, got the title in 1754, as per the estate.

The estate, however, is unsure how the head and bust remained buried in the soil in the parking and said that it is a “complete mystery.”

Burghley House emphasised that “explanations rang[e] from a bungled burglary to someone simply discarding the statue and it later being covered by soil.”

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Digger driver Crawley said that it was an “amazing feeling to have found something so old and special” and called the find his “best ever discovery.”

“I had a real shock as the digger bucket rolled over what I thought was a big stone to reveal a face,” said Crawley, in the Burghley House statement.

“I couldn’t believe it when they told me it was a Roman marble statue,” he said. The statue will be put on display along with other statues which have been collected by the ninth earl at Burghley House.

(With inputs from agencies)