Human footprints and tracks of dogs and pigs have been found in tiles

Cat would have run across the tile as it was drying on the ground in 100AD

Prints may have been made by a pet cat belonging to a Roman soldier

Paw prints made by an impetuous cat in Roman times has been discovered on a 2,000-year-old roof tile.

The tile was originally dug up in Gloucester in the 1960s, but the cute prints have only just come to light.

A domestic cat - possibly the companion of a Roman soldier stationed at the site – is believed to have made the print as the tile dried in the sun in around 100AD.

I Clawdius: Paw prints made by an impetuous cat in Roman times has been discovered on a 2,000-year-old roof tile (pictured). The tile was originally dug up in Gloucester in the 1960s, but the cute prints, which were possibly made by an 'army cat' have only just come to light

The tile, a flat type called a tegula, was used on the roof of a building in what became the Berkeley Street area of modern Gloucester, a museum spokesman said.

It was one of ‘tonnes’ of tiles unearthed during a dig on the street 1969.

‘Recently archaeologists have started going through the boxes [of tiles] and picked out this one with interesting prints,’ City Museum Curator David Rice told MailOnline.

'What we do in life echoes in eternity’: The imprinted tile, a type called tegula, was used on the roof of a building in what became the Berkeley Street area of modern Gloucester (shown with a red marker)

WHAT ARE TEGULA TILES? The ancient Greeks and Romans both used a combination of differently shaped tiles to keep roofs waterproof. They are called the imbrex and tegula. Tegulae - the type bearing the paw prints - are flat, while imbrices were semi-circular in shape. Imbrices were laid over the joins of tegulae so they when overlapped, there was no need for sealant. Both tiles were made of fired clay, or sometimes, marble, bronze or gilt. Advertisement

To make the tile, a Roman would have created the shape from wet clay and left it to dry in the sun, he said, explaining the underside of tegulae often bear a rough imprint of the ground.

‘Animals, and people, sometimes walked across the drying tiles and left their footprints behind.

‘The cat is thought to have snuck across the wet tiles in Gloucester in about AD 100, probably at the annoyance of the tile makers, but this did not stop the Romans from using the tile.

‘They would have fired the tile afterwards, perhaps not giving the print much thought because it would be on the top of a roof,’ he said.

Mr Rice said that dog prints are thought to be the most common impression left on Roman tiles, but that there were lots of cats in Gloucester and Britain during Roman times, unlike in Italy.

‘Gloucester is a Roman Army town, so it [the cat that left its print] may have been an army cat,’ he said.

Ancient engineering: To make the tegula tile, a Roman would have created the shape from wet clay and left it to dry in the sun, a which point the cat may have run over it and left its prints. Roman roofs were composed of two types of tiles - flat tegulae and curved imbrices (pictured) to create a waterproof roof

He explained that it’s possible the marks were made by a pet because they are small and more befitting of a domestic cat than a wild cat.

‘Gloucester was a Roman port so there were ships coming in, probably with lots of rats and mice on them. Cats would have been useful,’ he added.

Councillor Lise Noakes, cabinet member for culture and leisure at Gloucester City Council said, ‘Dog paw prints, people's boot prints and even a piglet's trotter print have all been found on tiles from Roman Gloucester, but cat prints are very rare.’

The tile has gone on display at the city's museum.