Student digs up rare Pict face carving

AN archaeology student volunteering on a dig has discovered what may be a rare carving of a Pict's face.

- By Lucinda Cameron

Jodie Allan was digging at the East Lomond hill fort in Fife when she found what she initially thought was a piece of slag while sieving soil excavated from an early medieval building.

However, on closer inspection it could be seen that the object was a carving with what look like two eyes and a nose, leading experts to suggest it may depict a human face.

The hill fort and surrounding settlement are located in what is thought to have been the southernmost part of the Pictish kingdom, which ruled a large part of what became Scotland.

Professor Gordon Noble, of the University of Aberdeen, and Joe Fitzpatrick of the Falkland Stewardship Trust have been co-leading excavation work at the site for the past four years.

Ms Allan, a student at the University of Aberdeen, said she initially did not think much of it when she spotted an object of around 10-12cm in her sieve.

She said: "I had no idea I was holding anything significant.