The earliest human figure to be found in Scotland is to go on display at Edinburgh Castle.

The Orkney Venus is a 5,000-year-old female carving which has the UK's first known depiction of a person's face. It was found this summer during the Historic Scotland excavation on the Orkney island of Westray.

Historic Scotland said children would be given free entry to the castle during the exhibition, which ends on November 1.

Culture Minister Mike Russell, said: "It's great that people will have the chance to see this remarkable historical find for themselves, and I'm particularly delighted to be able to announce that children will be able to get into Edinburgh Castle for free while the exhibition is on.

"We hope the tour will highlight Orkney as a visitor destination, and its wonderful archaeology, to Scots and visitors from overseas and encourage them to visit the islands and see their many attractions for themselves."

The four centimeter tall carving, known by locals as the Westray Wife, will be on show in the ante-room of Edinburgh Castle's Laich Hall along with panels giving information about how and when it was found.  It was brought to Edinburgh for conservation work to protect it for the future, and so experts could carry out examinations.

The artefact will be on show for two weeks and will then tour other venues. It will then return to Orkney where it will go on temporary show at the Westray Heritage Centre.