KURT BAYER

Scots archaeologists believe they have found the walls of the lost Scone Abbey, where Robert the Bruce is believed to have been crowned on the Stone of Destiny.

The abbey was the seat of ecclesiastical and royal power on an ancient mound known as Moot Hill, where Scottish kings were crowned for four centuries.

But the abbey, founded by Alexander I in 1114, was sacked and burned in 1559 during the Reformation, and no trace of it was left.

Yesterday archaeologist Peter Yeoman revealed that three human skeletons were also uncovered as part of the two-week dig at Scone Palace in Perthshire.

He said: "This is very exciting indeed.

"The site has been a place of burial since AD900, possibly even longer than that, possibly dating to Pictish times, and was used well into the 19th century.

"So, it has probably been used as a burial ground for 1000 years because of its importance to Christian worship."

The team has also found bits of pottery, oyster shells, bits of glass, and an old coin, which give indications of the lifestyles led by previous inhabitants.