Mysterious 1,800-year-old Roman monument found in garage

Construction workers in the UK found an old Roman statue that is almost 2,000 years old while they were building a parking lot.

Last year, a digger driver named Greg Crawley found a marble head of a Roman lady at the Burghley House in England. He was doing renovations at the 16th century estate when he made the discovery.

Two weeks later, another statue was discovered near the first one. The artifacts were cleaned, checked, and put back together by an expert. The expert said the statue was made in the 1st or 2nd century.

Specialists observed that a metal rod was put into the statue so it could be connected to a bust or pedestal. This was something that Italian sellers did in the late 1700s when they were selling old things to rich people visiting Italy.

“It is thought that the ninth Earl bought the sculpture during his trips to Italy in the 1760s and brought it back to Burghley,” the house explained.

Brownlow Cecil, who was the ninth Earl of Exeter, became the title holder in 1754. He loved to travel and collected beautiful art, as stated by the estate.

The estate doesn’t know how the head and bust ended up buried in the car park. They think it’s a total mystery.

Burghley House thinks the statue may have been thrown away and covered up with dirt, or maybe someone tried to rob the place but messed up.

The digger driver, Crawley, said he felt really happy to find something very old and special. He called it the best thing he ever found.

“I was shocked when they said it was a statue made of Roman marble,” he said.

The statue will be put on show with other statues that the ninth earl collected at Burghley House.