Overview

• The largest shoe measures 12.6 inches (32 cm), equating to a modern U.S. size 14 and ranking among the Vindolanda Trust’s biggest artifacts.
• All three leather shoes were discovered in an ‘ankle-breaker’ defensive trench designed by Romans to trap advancing soldiers.
• Analysis shows Roman shoemakers constructed the soles with multiple leather layers held together by thongs, stitching and hobnails.
• Anaerobic conditions within the fort’s defensive ditches have kept organic materials remarkably intact and fuel optimism for further finds.
• Excavation efforts are now moving from the outer trenches into the fort’s interior, where waterlogged soils may preserve timber buildings and other artifacts.