Archaeologists have unearthed a stash of unusually large shoes at the ruins of a first-century military fort along Hadrian’s Wall, a 117km stone barrier in Britain that famously shielded the Roman Empire’s northwestern perimeter from foreign invaders. The discovery is raising new questions about the lives and origins of the fort’s inhabitants.
The giant leather soles were found at Magna Fort in May among 34 pieces of footwear, including work boots and baby-sized shoes, that are helping to paint a picture of the 4,000 men, women and children who once lived in and around the English site just south of the Scottish border.
Eight of the shoes are more than 11.8 inches in length – a US men’s size 13.5 or greater based on Nike’s size chart – making them larger than average by today’s standard and sparking suspicions that unusually tall troops may have guarded this particular fortress at the empire’s edge.
By contrast, the average ancient shoe found at a neighbouring Roman fort was closer to a US men’s size 8, according to a news release about the discovery.
“When the first large shoe started to come out of the ground, we were looking for many explanations, like maybe it’s their winter shoes, or people were stuffing them, wearing extra socks,” recalled Rachel Frame, a senior archaeologist leading the excavation. “But as we found more of them and different styles, it does seem to be that these (were) just people with really large feet.”
As digging continues at Magna Fort, Frame said she hopes further investigation could answer who exactly wore these giant shoes.
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