NEW Pictish remains have been discovered at a fort thought to have been largely destroyed by a 19th-century development.
Archaeologists from the University of Aberdeen uncovered a longhouse and an 1,100-year-old Anglo-Saxon coin in a dig at Burghead Fort near Lossiemouth, Moray.
Experts believe the fort was a significant seat of power within the Pictish Kingdom, dating between 500AD and 1000AD.
Artefacts including the Burghead Bull carvings and a mysterious underground well were discovered in the 1800s, but it was thought further remains were destroyed when a new town was built on top of the fort around the same time.
But a dig that started in 2015 has now led to fresh discoveries.
The university team uncovered a Pictish longhouse, within which an Anglo- Saxon coin of Alfred the Great was found, providing key dating evidence for the use of the house and fort.
Archaeologists said the coin dates to the late ninth century when Viking raiders and settlers were leading to major changes within Pictish society.
Dr Gordon Noble, senior lecturer, said: “The assumption has always been that there was nothing left at Burghead – but beneath the 19th-century debris, we have started to find significant Pictish remains.”