This is a resin copy of one of seven terracotta heads found near Lydenburg by a young schoolboy, K.L. von Bezing, who gave them to the Archaeology Department when he came to UCT as a student in the 1960s. It is dated c. AD 500-700 and represents the earliest sculpture found in southern Africa. Excavations suggest that the heads may have been burned and deliberately buried, rather than just discarded or abandoned.

The Lydenburg Heads are part of UCT's collections on loan to Iziko South African Museum.

The Lydenburg Heads were the subject of an exhibition and publication (Face value) by Emeritus Professor Malcolm Payne of the Michaelis School of Fine Art.