Archaeology & History

Mystery surrounds discovery of giant 2,000-year-old Roman shoes

By T.K. Randall
July 6, 2025

Image: Roman Legionnaire
Credit: Rennett Stowe / CC BY 2.0 (adapted) The anomalously large shoes, which are equivalent to a modern European size 49 or a US size 15, were discovered at the Magna Roman Fort in Northumberland, England by a team of archaeologists from the Vindolanda Charity Trust.

Dating back 2,000 years, the shoes were found in a ditch that was likely used as a rubbish dump.

Eight were found in total, making this one of the largest hauls of such shoes ever found in one place.Senior archaeologist Rachel Frame noted that the find was "really unusual" and emphasized that the team was now trying to work out which regiments might have been stationed at the fort and why there was such a disproportionate number of large shoes compared to other locations.

The level of preservation evident in the shoes was also quite impressive.

"You need specific soil conditions with very low oxygen for organic objects made of things like wood, leather, textiles, stuff like that, to survive for this length of time," said Frame.

You can check out a video that looks at the discovery in more detail below.


Source: Science Alert

Tags: Roman, Shoes