SHOE

An incomplete cowhide leather shoe with iron hobnails and some associated goatskin fragments dating to the late second or early third century AD. The shoe was designed to be worn on the right foot. The shoe is swayed with a rounded toe and pronounced outer side of the tread at the ball of the foot. The waist and seat are narrow, tapering evenly to the back of the shoe. Some uppers remain around the edges of the shoe, but not enough to discern the original shoe type. The heel stiffener is typical of closed Roman shoes of many types. The studs are very small and in a highly decorative pattern. A single line of tightly packed studs touch each other all around the outer edge. A tendril pattern runs from the seat, with a single stud at the center of a 'u-shape', and scrolls from each side. Where there are gaps on the outer edge and at the inner edge under the arch of the foot, triangular patterns cluster in groups of three or six studs. Several studs are missing from the tread but an s-shaped scroll is apparent with an added line of small studs on the outer edge at the inner tread area.

The nailing pattern of this shoe indicates a date of the later 2nd or early 3rd century. Tendril patterns like this generally begin to appear in ca. AD 170 and the clustered groups of studs at the waist and seat are a characteristic of footwear in the first quarter of the 3rd century (van Driel-Murray 2007, 351). This type of nailed pattern is fairly common in Britain, with examples found in the large assemblage at Vindolanda and elsewhere.

MEASUREMENTS:

(Insole)

Full length: 23.5cm

Width at tread: 8.5cm

Width at waist: 5.2cm

Width at seat: 4.5cm

(Treadsole)

Full length: 26cm

Width at tread: 9.0cm

Width at waist: 6.3cm

Width at seat: 6.5cm

CONDITIONS AND PRESERVATION:

All sole layers are preserved from treadsole to insole. The edges have a bit of wear and damage but it is complete. The heel stiffener is still attached, with wear on the upper edge and scuffing on the outside leather surface. The treadsole is intact with only a few missing iron studs.