2000-year-old footprints discovered on Scottish beach

Footprints made by humans and animals around 2,000 years ago have been discovered on a beach in Scotland.

The mysterious markings were spotted by dog walkers at Lunan Bay in Angus last month, after storms revealed the layer of clay that they'd been pressed into.

A team of archaeologists from the University of Aberdeen think that the prints – which haven't been seen anywhere else in Scotland before - were created during the peak of the Roman Empire.

Similar ones have only been found at a few places in England, including Formby in Merseyside and Happisburgh in Norfolk.

When the archaeologists were called to the beach, they had to work quickly.

Strong winds were blowing sand over the footprints and the sea was close to washing them away.

Even though the weather destroyed the site after only two days, the archaeologists managed to make a record of it.

They also made 3D models and casts of the footprints so the important information wouldn't be lost.

So far, they've figured out that some of the prints were made by animals including roe deer and red deer.

They've also found that some of the prints came from humans who would have walked barefoot on the clay, long ago.

Dr Will Mills, who was part of the project, said: "Humans were using this environment, perhaps for hunting deer or to collect wild plant foods, such as samphire."

Professor Gordon Noble, who was also a member of the team, added: "It's very exciting to think these prints were made by people around the time of the Roman invasions of Scotland and in the centuries leading up to the emergence of the Picts."