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'Very unusual' ancient head with eerie smile unearthed by archaeology student at Scottish farm
By Andrea Margolis
Published August 28, 2025
An undergraduate student was startled after a finely carved ancient head rolled out during a recent excavation – and seemed to smile back at her.
The discovery, made at Skaill Farm on the Scottish island of Rousay, was announced by the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) Archaeology Institute on July 24. The site is part of a long-term research project of the institute.
Student Katie Joss was working along a trench wall when the head "stared back" at her, according to the university.
Pictures from the dig show the head with curly hair and a slight smile, unfazed by its missing nose.
In a statement, UHI archaeology lecturer Sarah Jane Gibbon called the discovery "such an exciting find."
A carved sandstone head with curly hair and a faint smile was unearthed at Skaill Farm, a University of the Highlands and Islands research project. (Dan Lee / UHI Archaeology Institute)
"The carved head is of rich, red sandstone, with yellow inclusions, that was likely quarried from the island of Eday and is the same as the molded fragments from the nearby St. Mary’s old parish church," the expert noted.
The exact age and use of the head remains a mystery, though Gibbon said that its presence suggests that there was once a "building of some splendor" in the area.
"It’s something you would expect to find at an ecclesiastical site, not a farm."
Dan Lee, an archaeologist and researcher at UHI Orkney, told Fox News Digital the find was "very unusual."
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"We don’t know of any other examples in Orkney," he said. "It’s something you would expect to find at an ecclesiastical site, not a farm."
Lee believes the head came from St. Mary’s Kirk and is medieval in nature.
If true, the artifact shows that the church was likely "very finely built and of high status."
Archaeology student Katie Joss, right, made the discovery while working through a trench wall on site. The discovery was announced in late July. (Dan Lee / UHI Archaeology Institute)
"You wouldn’t expect this kind of high-quality carving on a farm, and we haven’t found any red sandstone built into the main walls of the farm buildings," said Lee.
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The head is also very well-preserved, suggesting that it had been sheltered indoors.
"It doesn’t appear to have been damaged, apart from the broken nose tip, but this may have occurred before it was deposited in a later rubble layer," the archaeologist observed.
The find adds to a growing collection of sandstone fragments recovered from the Skaill Farm project. (Dan Lee / UHI Archaeology Institute)
"Stone preserves well in the ground, so it’s not surprising it has survived well. You can see the individual chisel marks where it was carved."
Lee added that the head is one of many finely carved red sandstone artifacts at Skaill, such as a column capital – but it's still a first of its kind.
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"But we haven’t had anything resembling the human form, so this is unique!" he emphasized.
Scotland has a long history of human settlement, and the Skaill discovery is just one of many new finds.
The recent discovery is part of ongoing research at Skaill Farm, directed by the UHI Archaeology Institute. (Dan Lee / UHI Archaeology Institute)
On Sanday, another one of the Orkney Islands, a warship connected to the American Revolution was uncovered on a beach by a schoolboy.
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A prehistoric village was also recently discovered near Inverness, Scotland, at the site of a future golf course.
https://www.foxnews.com/travel/unusual-ancient-head-eerie-smile-unearthed-archaeology-student-scottish-farm