Farmer digs up prehistoric lioness statue, 'completely intact'

Gonzalo Crespo says: “I was driving along and I realised the tractor had hit an obstacle, but these modern machines are built for that and don't break.

“So I carried on and, when I turned back around again, I saw it.”

The 'it', sitting in the middle of his field in the tied hamlet of Cañablanquilla, part of the larger village of San Sebastián de los Ballesteros (Córdoba province), was a solid statue dating back to the sixth century BCE.

It seems the lion had been sleeping beneath the soil practically ever since – 25 centuries undisturbed, and with no signs of erosion or breakage whatsoever.

“The archaeologists can't believe their eyes,” says Crespo.

Although Roman findings in and around San Sebastián de los Ballesteros are well-documented and far from unusual, the statue Crespo ploughed up is thought to date even farther back – to the time of the Iberians, Spain's first-known native inhabitants.

The lion is a female one, as it does not have a mane, is about a metre (3'3”) long and around 30 centimetres (a foot) high.

Stone sculptures of wild animals are believed to have been an artistic tradition among Spain's prehistoric residents.

She has been taken to Córdoba Archaeological Museum to be professionally cleaned up and thoroughly examined so her origins and back-story can be catalogued.

Whether or not she will remain as a display piece, or whether Crespo will get to keep her on permanent loan, is not clear, although he will probably have to visit the museum whenever he wants to check in with his new feline friend.

“I've saved a place for her on the hearth,” the farmer jokes.

Photograph: Twitter