Archaeologists Make Strange Roman Discovery at Hadrian's Wall
The Roman Empire built 73 miles of wall to fortify its northern border in Great Britain.
In AD 122, the Emperor Hadrian ordered its construction, and it remained the empire's border fortification for almost 300 years, according to English Heritage.
So it's not surprising that Roman artifacts are being unearthed at Hadrian's Wall. However, the latest artifacts are a bit unusual.
They do illuminate the lifestyle of the Roman soldiers who manned the wall.
Archaeologists have unearthed multiple pairs of very large shoes. That's according to a July 2 press release from Vindolanda Charitable Trust that documented the discovery.
How large? According to CNN, eight of the 34 shoes are a US men’s size 13.5. The average Roman shoes unearthed near the site before were a men's size 8. CNN reported that "the soles of the shoes from both sites are made from thick layers of cowhide leather held together with iron hobnails."
The owners are not clear, as the Romans brought soldiers from all over their Empire to Hadrian's Wall, but the size of the shoes indicates the wearers were likely "exceptionally tall," CNN reported.
"With a collection of around 5,000 ancient leather shoes uncovered at Roman Vindolanda, the Vindolanda Charitable Trust has gained an amazing insight into the men, women and children who occupied this northern outpost from these very personal items of clothing," the release says.
"The collection includes tiny baby booties, elaborate summer sandals and marching boots. These ancient artefacts captivate the imagination about the sort of people who wore them nearly 2,000 years ago," it notes.
"This year the Trust’s archaeologists, supported by teams of volunteers from across the world, have been excavating the northern defensive ditches of the Fort. When the semi-anaerobic low oxygen deposits within the ditches were reached, the first of 32 shoes were uncovered," it notes.
But there was something strange about this shoe discovery: The size.
"It soon became apparent that some of these shoes were very large. The first exceptionally large shoe was reported in the team’s Magna Dig Diary on 21st May. At 32cm (UK size 13/14) the leather shoe sole attracted a lot of attention, its length ranking it as one of the largest in the Trust’s collection," the release says.
"As news spread of this giant single shoe, the team continued to discover more ancient shoes, several more of them being of an exceptional size. Eight shoes from Magna are now recorded as 30cm or over in length and this includes one which holds the current record for being the Trust’s largest shoe at 32.6cm long. From the shoes uncovered to date at Magna 25% are classed as xx-large (30cm+)," it says.
"In comparison, of the shoes uncovered at Vindolanda, and of which the size can be determined, only 0.4% of shoes are in the same category, with the average shoe size being a smaller 24-26cm in length," the release says.
Dr. Elizabeth Greene, Associate Professor at the University of Western Ontario and Vindolanda’s shoe specialist, measured the shoes and said in the release: “I think there is something very different going on here at Magna, even from this small sample uncovered it is clear that these shoes are much larger on average than most of the Vindolanda collection.”
Related: Archaeologists Say They've Found a Legendary Pirate Ship, Rewriting History