Roman coin hoard found at Belladrum festival site

A Roman coin hoard has been found at the site of a major Highland music festival, it has emerged.

Some of the 36 denarii were discovered by Eric Soane using a metal detector during a clean up of discarded tent pegs after last year's Belladrum.

A dig led by archaeologist Dr Fraser Hunter uncovered the rest of what was the first Roman coin hoard to be discovered in the Beauly area.

Some of the coins date from the mid-Second Century.

They will be on permanent display at Inverness Museum and Art Gallery from 16 July.

Festival promoter Joe Gibbs said: "Left-behind tent pegs can be dangerous to stock and can damage machinery.

"We like to get rid of as many as possible. But it was an unexpected bonus to find the coins."

He added: "Heavy metal isn't generally a genre we go in for at Belladrum, but perhaps we should revise that as clearly there is a precedent, albeit 2000 years ago."