How a Scottish boy digging for potatoes found an ancient Egyptian 'masterpiece'

For decades, archaeologists have been trying to work out how a trove of ancient Egyptian artefacts were buried in the grounds of a school in Scotland.

In 1952, a schoolboy was sent to dig up potatoes as a punishment – how times have changed – when he found a statue. It turned out to be a masterpiece made some 4,000 years ago.

Fourteen years later, more treasure was discovered by a boy during a PE class, before, in 1984, a group found another item with a metal detector.

It turned out to be part of a set of 18 antiquities dug up over the next 30 years at Melville House, a historic building in Fife, Scotland. But nobody had any idea how they got there.

Now, researchers think they might have unearthed what was going on.

Alexander Lesie-Melville was a young heir to Melville House when he travelled to Egypt in 1856. A year later, he had returned to Scotland and died.

Leslie-Melville might have picked up the collection on his travels – it certainly beats the Duty Free section at Heathrow – as antique dealers routinely sold ancient artefacts to rich foreigners during that period.

After Leslie-Melville died, family members are thought to have moved the objects to an outbuilding, where they were promptly forgotten about. The outbuilding was then demolished.

Margaret Maitland, principal curator of the Ancient Mediterranean at National Museums Scotland where most of the objects are housed, said: “The discovery of ancient Egyptian artifacts that had been buried in Scotland for over a hundred years is evidence of the scale of 19th century antiquities collecting and its complex history.”

“It was an exciting challenge to research and identify such a diverse range of artefacts.”

Dr Elizabeth Goring, who has since investigated the site, said: “Excavating and researching these finds at Melville House has been the most unusual project in my archaeological career, and I’m delighted to now be telling the story in full."

The full story will be published in an upcoming article in the journal Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

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