What ever became of the Finchburg 'mystery mask' found in March 1976?

 Stone mask found by Collins McKinley near Finchburg.

(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere in Time.” The column below, which was titled “Mask discovery deepens mystery of Finchburg urns” was originally published in the March 18, 1976 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)

A couple of weeks ago, I brought to my readers’ attention the finding of two burial urns from India in Monroe County. Today I have something more to add that will deepen the mystery.

Strange as it seemed that these urns found their way halfway across the world, stranger still is what was found later at the same location near Finchburg.

After finding the urns and seeing the interest they created, Collins McKinley of Franklin decided he would return to the spot and see if he might find something that would shed some light as to why the urns were there.

But this was not the case. The mystery was not solved; it was only deepened by the excavation of a stone mask.

Hollow eyes, mouth

The mask is about 12 inches long and eight inches wide. The eyes and mouth are hollow as though something else belongs in the impressions. The back of the mask is slightly concave, or curved, as if it were designed to fit on or cling to something. The material is of a crude form of cement, roughly mixed, with small stones and pebbles throughout.

If it’s true that something is missing from the eyes and mouth, then it’s possible to assume that maybe they were precious stones or a metal of value. This might explain why all of these things were here in the first place. This might be the reason why they were buried, so as not to be found for a long, long time.

Maybe the person or person who brought these items here removed the valuable stones or metal from the mask and then buried it to conceal the evidence. Maybe there is another reason.

Are they connected?

There are no writings on the mask to identify its origin. Could it be that the mask and the urns are not associated? But why would they turn up in the same place?

Could the mask have come from one part of the world and the urns from another? This doesn’t seem likely. I find myself believing that the three are associated in some way or another.

To speculate as to how they arrived here, maybe sometime back through the years an old sea captain or sailor brought them to these shores and then up the river. He found it easier to bury them and remove them from sight than to answer a million questions.

But through all the speculation and wondering, the mystery remains. Behind the grim, sightless eyes, the truth awaits – but the answer is slow in coming.

(This column was also accompanied by a photo of the mask, taken by Singleton, that included the following caption: Stone mask found by Collins McKinley near Finchburg.)

(Singleton, the author of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the age of 79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime resident of Monroeville, he was born during a late-night thunderstorm on Dec. 14, 1927 in Marengo County, graduated from Sweet Water High School in 1946, served as a U.S. Marine paratrooper in the Korean War, worked as a riverboat deckhand, lived for a time among Apache Indians, moved to Monroe County on June 28, 1964 and served as the administrator of the Monroeville National Guard unit from June 28, 1964 to Dec. 14, 1987. For years, Singleton’s columns, titled “Monroe County history – Did you know?” and “Somewhere in Time” appeared in The Monroe Journal, and he wrote a lengthy series of articles about Monroe County that appeared in Alabama Life magazine. It’s believed that his first column appeared in the March 25, 1971 edition of The Monroe Journal. He is buried in Pineville Cemetery in Monroeville. The column above and all of Singleton’s other columns are available to the public through the microfilm records at the Monroe County Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns are presented here each week for research and scholarship purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work and memory alive.)