A Roman statue, believed to be 1,800 years old, was found in England’s Burghley House parking lot. Greg Crawley, driving an excavator, found the head of a Roman woman in 2023 while building a new parking lot. Later, a bust was also discovered nearby.
Crawley was shocked and amazed by his discovery. The British Museum was told about it. Experts think the statue was brought to the estate in the 1760s by Brownlow, the Earl of Exeter, who collected ancient items during his trips to Italy.
The head and bust were taken to the estate’s curator and then sent to a conservator to clean and assemble them properly. An iron dowel was added to attach the statue to a pedestal.
The bust will be displayed at Burghley House alongside other sculptures bought by the Earl. The estate is puzzled about how the statue ended up buried in the parking lot, with theories ranging from burglary gone wrong to someone tossing it away and soil covering it.
