The 1,800-year-old skeleton of one of Roman Britain's "social elite" has been discovered by two men with metal detectors who had already unearthed a £1 million Viking treasure.

The father and son team, David and Andrew Whelan discovered the skeleton buried in a six-foot lead-lined coffin near the Roman town of Aldborough in north Yorks.

The find has excited archaeologists who believe the skeleton is probably that of a woman of British descent and that the style of coffin indicates that she was probably a wealthy landowner.