Big feet... big wall? Archaeologists this this the reason why these Roman soldiers wore giant shoes

Archaeologists excavating Magna Fort, a Roman outpost near Hadrian’s Wall in northeast England, have unearthed a hoard of giant leather shoes that has them stumped. The single excavation project found 32 shoes, bringing the total number in the area up to around 5,000.

It’s not the wardrobe of the cyclops, but the biggest specimens found stretch to nearly 13 inches, roughly a modern US men’s size 13 to 15. For context, that about as large as the Nike kicks worn by LeBron James.

As well as the shoes, the archaeologists revealed, the collection includes tiny baby booties, elaborate summer sandals and marching boots. Archaeology Mag explains that “Magna fort, predating the construction of Hadrian’s Wall, housed a diverse military population consisting of Syrian archers, Dalmatians, Batavians, and legionaries from the Second Augusta and Twentieth Valeria Victrix legions," with the various shoes “indicating physical differences among these regiments or perhaps different provisioning or cultural practices.”

Finds like this are “most at risk from our changing climate”

“I think there is something very different going on here at Magna,” Elizabeth Greene, an archaeologist at Western University in Ontario, suspected in a statement. “Even from this small sample uncovered, it is clear that these shoes are much larger on average than most of the Vindolanda collection.”

However, despite the joy regarding the find, some on the project are concerned.

The shoes, found in low-oxygen, waterlogged conditions that normally preserve organic materials such as leather, are indeed showing signs of deterioration due to climate change, making analysis even more difficult.

Rachel Frame, Senior Archaeologist at the Magna Project explained that: “Organic finds like this are some of the most precious to come from our sites, which capture the imagination of visitors and volunteers alike, but they are also the most at risk from our changing climate."

Meanwhile, Dr Andrew Birley, the Trust’s CEO and Director of Excavations, added that “this really shows us what is at risk if climate change continues to rob us of such vital information. It reminds us that not every population was the same, that wide variations between the regiments and people who served along Hadrian’s Wall, could be cultural and physical."

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“Without artefacts like these wonderful shoes from Magna and Vindolanda, it would be almost impossible to know information like this. We can only celebrate and marvel at the diversity and differences of these people if we can still see them in the archaeological data we gather today”.

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