Face to face with the 5,000-year-old 'first Scot'

Face to face with the 5,000-year-old 'first Scot'
Published Date: 21 August 2009
By FRANK URQUHART

AT FIRST glance, it appears little more than a tiny fragment of sandstone with a few crude scratches on the surface.
Yet this precious object is one of the most exciting archaeological discoveries made in Scotland – the earliest representation of a human face and body ever found north of the Border.

The face and its lozenge-shaped body – measuring just 3.5cm by 3cm – were carved on the Orkney island of Westray between 4,500 and 5,000 years ago.

The enigmatic figurine had lain undisturbed in the earth at the Links of Noltland – one of Orkney's richest archaeological sites – until just last week.

That was when archaeologists, carefully brushing away the mud from the fragment of sandstone, found Scotland's earliest human face staring back at them....

MORE at http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/scotland/Face-to-face-with-the.5575575.jp

Oh well.....:D

Everyone knows that Great is superior to First.... :eyes: