800-year-old Homer Simpson

Rosalind and Donald McIntyre of Fife, Scotland, unearthed a stone carving in their garden earlier this year that bears a striking resemblance to the animated character Homer Simpson. Experts have pegged the sculptured head at about 800 years old.

Mrs McIntyre said: 'Our sons took it to St Andrews Museum and they were completely amazed by it. They said that they would try and carbon date it.

'They had it for 11 or 12 weeks, but they couldn’t find out when or where it was from, but they said they thought it was very, very old.

'They sent it around various places but no one could find out anything about it.

'When they gave it back to us you could see where they took parts of the stone from behind the ear to try and date it.'

Mrs McIntyre said that the bulbous-eyed sculpture was completely solid, and very heavy, but full of detail.

She added: 'If you put your finger into his mouth you can feel all the ridges and his teeth.'

Since the head has come into their lives, the intrigue has taken up so much time that the artefact has become part of the family.

'There is no other word to describe it other than ugly, but we have become quite attached to it,' Mrs McIntyre said.

The McIntyres speculate that the head may be a gargoyle from a 13th-century church. Link -via HuffPo

(Image credit: Central Scotland News Agency)