A mystery skull which was found at a historic site is being investigated to try and find out who the person was.

The cranium is now under the care of Maidstone Museum and will be part of its new archaeology gallery which is opening next summer.

As part of the investigation, the skull underwent a CT scan at the town’s hospital in Hermitage Lane after patient hours and with the help of the nuclear medicine department and volunteers.

Cllr Claudine Russell, cabinet member for communities, leisure and arts at Maidstone council, said: “I am really intrigued to find out what this person may have looked like and when they lived. We are really grateful to Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust for their help with this exciting project.

“Maidstone Museum looks forward to welcoming visitors to the new gallery ‘Lives In Our Landscape’, to discover more about the people who lived, thrived, and died in this area.”

The museum’s collections manager Samantha Harris has had previous experience of scanning through her work with the Egyptian mummies at the museum.

She said: “The scanning of this skull in partnership with MTW NHS Trust is a great opportunity, using non-destructive techniques, to learn more about the individual when they were alive. Using the scans in conjunction with other scientific testing we hope to bring them to life, thousands of years after their death.”

The skull moved slowly through the scanner, which recorded the surface at very high resolution. The data will be used by FaceLab, at Liverpool John Moores University, to recreate the appearance of this person. Visitors to the new gallery will be able to look into the face of someone who lived perhaps around 6000 years ago.

James Elliot, a senior lecturer in diagnostic radiography at Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU) and a forensics and archaeological imaging expert, added: “CT scans are an excellent tool to create a digital record of the deceased, providing an assessment of health as well as appearance.

“Of interest was the identification of a bone lesion (tumour) within the frontal bone of the skull, showing as a rounded area of different texture to the surrounding bone.

“The exact diagnosis is still unclear, with suggestions of an origin due to cancer or merely a benign growth. The lesion does not protrude from the skull and is not visible by eye, highlighting the value of the CT scan.”

The process is similar to a discovery in another part of Kent, known as the Swanscombe skull.

Swanscombe is one of only two sites in Britain where actual human remains of this very early period have been found.

The former Barnfield gravel pit gained international fame when part of a fossilized human skull was unearthed – originally believed to belong to a man due to its size but later confirmed as being that of a female.

Its discovery was made on a summer afternoon on June 29, 1935, by a 46-year-old dentist named Alvan Theophilus Marston, for whom archaeology was just a hobby.

Marston had been digging around eight metres below the surface when he noticed the bone fragment protruding out.