Experts baffled by giant shoes found at ancient Roman fort

Archaeologists have been left puzzled after discovering a number of "unusually large" Roman shoes at a fort in Northumberland.

Thirty-two leather shoes were dug up at the Magna Roman Fort near Carvoran, eight of which were at least 30 centimetres long - that's like UK adult size 11.5!

The huge footwear is thought to be around 2,000 years old.

Experts say they hope that pottery found in the same soil layers as the shoes could help them solve the mystery.

What did archaeologists find?

The shoes were found in a Roman ditch in Northumberland

Archaeologists discovered the leather shoes during a dig and found them in a defensive ditch, which the Romans also used as rubbish dumps.

The team say the largest found at Magna Roman Fort was 32.6cm long.

Even though experts aren't sure yet why they're so big, they have a few theories surrounding their origin.

Archaeologist Rachel Frame explained: "We have to assume it's something to do with the people living here, having bigger feet, being potentially taller but we don't know.

"Are the people living there from a specific region? Could that be why their shoes are so much larger? But at the moment, it's sort of, well, this is unusual," she added.

As well as the huge footwear, the team also found children's shoes and pottery at the site.

Ms Frame said the team hoped that by taking a closer look at the style of pottery they could get a better idea of who was living there at different time periods.