Off the Wall: Did Shaq Throw a Shoe 2,000 Years Ago?
A surprisingly large leather shoe has been found at Magna, a Roman fort in northern England reveals that one Roman Soldier had really BIG Feet
A surprisingly large leather shoe has been found at Magna, a Roman fort in northern England.
Archaeologists have unearthed an enormous leather shoe while digging at the bottom of an "ankle-breaker" defensive ditch at a Roman fort in northern England.
The shoe and other leather goods from the fort, called Magna, are providing new information about shoe manufacturing techniques and the people who wore them almost 2,000 years ago.
"A shoe is such a personal item; it really puts you in touch with the people who used to live at the fort," one of the volunteers for the Magna Project wrote on the excavation blog.
After the construction of Hadrian's Wall, built around A.D. 122 to demarcate the northern extent of the Roman Empire, the Roman army took over and expanded small forts in Britain. Magna — also known as Carvoran — is part of this series of forts along the wall. It is situated about 7 miles (11 kilometers) west of Vindolanda, the large Roman auxiliary fort that's well known for the remarkable preservation of writing tablets, military medals and leather shoes.
In late March, archaeologists began excavating the defensive ditches, banks and ramparts outside the north wall of Magna. According to Magna Project senior archaeologist Rachel Frame, at the bottom of one ditch, they discovered an…
Well darn it, I guess that's where I left my bedroom slippers.....
Maybe a hard-up roman (real size 10) tryin' to get a date?
Onward, Christian soldiers!