A centuries-old stone object unearthed in a flowerbed in UK, some 200 years ago, is actually the head of a statue of Roman emperor Trajan, dating back to AD 122, scientists have found.
Little had been known about the stone object called the Bosham Head - a 170 kg, twice life-size stone head.
Historians have long puzzled over who it was meant to represent or how it ended up in a flower bed in Bosham, a coastal village in West Sussex, where it was discovered in around 1800.
Now, archaeologists from Bournemouth University have solved the mystery, using the latest in 3D laser scanning technology to pick out facial features and a distinctive hairstyle, which led them to conclude that the statue was of Roman emperor Trajan.
"The statue is one of the most important finds from Roman Britain and would certainly have been the most impressive," said Dr Miles Russell, a senior lecturer in prehistoric and Roman Archaeology.
He added that it was the largest Roman statue to have been discovered in Britain so far.
"The problem is because the face has been so battered by weathering - possibly because it was in the sea at one point - people have felt for the last 200 years that there's not enough left of the face to be that precise on its identification," Russell said.
"It is a shame that it has been ignored and overlooked for so long, but now that laser scanning has helped resolve its identity, hopefully it will now take pride of place," he said.
Russell believes the statue, made of Italian marble, was set up by Trajan's successor, Hadrian, on a visit to Britain in AD 121-122 and would have greeted visitors as they entered Chichester Harbour.
A similar statue of Emperor Trajan was also erected by Hadrian at Ostia Harbour, in Rome.
The Bosham Head is part of the collection at Novium Museum in Chichester.
