Archaeologists are to return to an Iron Age "power centre" to further investigate the influence of the Romans on the north of Scotland.

Dr Fraser Hunter, of the National Museums of Scotland, will lead the dig at Birnie, near Elgin, next month.

Roman coin hordes have previously been found in the area.

Dr Hunter said he hoped the work would further uncover clues to an Iron Age community there and the emergence of ancient people known as the Picts.

The archaeologists will look at a number of key target sites in what will be the final phase of excavations at Birnie.

Dr Hunter, principal curator of Roman archaeology, said it had been a "power centre" going back 3,000 years.

He said: "Around the Roman Iron Age it really flourished and was a place with Roman connections."

He said: "The site shows the influence of Rome beyond the edge of the empire."

The coins were thought to have been buried as a religious offering.

Dr Hunter said: "A series of strange things have also been found recently.

"One was an intact decorative pot buried upside down and a whet stone, a lovely rectangular object hardly used and not the kind of thing that would be have been discarded.

"We think these were buried as sacrifices as offerings to the gods."

Evidence of Roman influence outside the boundaries of the empire have been found across northern Scotland.

Last July, the BBC Scotland news website told how ancient coins were found on a beach in the Western Isles.

Archaeologists believed the pieces of copper alloy date from the middle of the 4th Century.

They were found in a sand dune, but the location in the Uists has been kept secret to protect the site.