Mysterious sculpture of a face found in Sampson County field
NEWTON GROVE, N.C. (WTVD) -- A man plowing his field accidentally came upon an archaeological find that has thus far stumped experts.
Assistant State Archaeologist Mary Beth Fitts said the Office of State Archaeology shared a 3-D model of the mysterious sculpture with the hope that someone will recognize seeing a similar object. Finding similar object might be able to shed light on who made the sculpture and when.
The sculpture was found by Tom Giddens while he plowed one of his fields near Newton Grove in Sampson County.
Giddens hit a stone that was approximately 2 ft. long and 1.5 ft. wide. He carried the stone to the edge of his field and continued his work.
Later, he went back to the stone and flipped it over. That's when he realized it had what appeared to be a face carved into it. He immediately contacted the Office of State Archaeology.
"It is definitely a rare find, which is why we presently don't know how old it is or who made it. It is made of sandstone, which is of medium hardness and therefore does not require specialized tools to carve," Fitts said of the sculpture.
Fitts said Giddens did the right thing by contacting her office. Anyone who comes across something they think is a historical artifact is encouraged to email pictures of the artifact to their regional archaeologist, which can be found here.
