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Step into the past - ancient Roman puts his foot in it

A volunteer archaeologist digging at Vindolanda, the Roman fort on Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland, has unearthed a tile with a human footprint.

Ancient footrpint. Credit: Vindolanda Charitable Trust

The partial print of a right foot has been dated to 160-180 AD.

The volunteer who found the tile was student Mel Benard who is digging at Vindolanda with a Canadian Field School from the University of Western Ontario in Canada.

This was the first artefact that I had found, I knew straight away that it was a footprint and it is so exciting to have discovered something which links you directly to that individual nearly 2000 years later”

– Mel Benard
Mel Benard with footprint. Credit: Vindolanda Charitable Trust

It is not known whether the imprint happened accidentally or whether the person responsible mischievously stood on the freshly made tile.