The article makes no mention of the strange metal heel piece. Is that some sort of gripper or traction device? Are any other examples known?
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Oh, these sorts of metal soles are quite common on this type of shoe. I am not familiar with the early medieval Byzantine variety but from medieval and later examples I suspect that these aren’t sandals but pattens, i.e. outer shoes designed to be worn over your normal soft leather-soled shoe to protect it against dirt and to provide better traction.
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Strangely an interweb search returns that the Met has them in a collection under “American, late 18th century”
Walking on rough unpaved or cobbled streets was perilous business in the thin silk-covered shoes of the 18th and early 19th centuries. This pair of overshoes is a rare and interesting combination of the two styles worn at the time, the clog and the patten. The clog was essentially a thick sole made to conform to the bottom of a shoe, with straps securing it to the foot. The patten consisted of a wooden sole elevated on an iron ring. The hobnailed leather pads and serrated iron ring suggest that this pair was made for icy winter conditions.
Weird.
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Yes, this makes much more sense! (See my comment above yours)
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Strange things are afoot at the Jerusalem Post.
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Lazy journalist googling “old sandals” and forgetting to attribute the image?
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free to read.
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(NSFW pottery and pottery shards)
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Kind of sort of on topic.
This particular channel is only periodically active, but the author has a new book to promote.
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That’s a great artifact to check for!
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Obviously, sea levels have risen significantly since that time, but I wonder if the road might have been originally laid under shallow water. That sort of thing can be useful if you know where the road is, and your enemies don’t:
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Building a special road, and an underwater one at that, for an army would suggest the need to repeatedly transverse the same area. Why? A road like that would take a lot of effort to build.
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Maybe someone at the top thought it was a good idea at the time.
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For kūlgrindos, we’re talking about a terrain where rivers, lakes and swaps are the most reliable defensive features (not many steep hills, hardly any sheer cliffs, no mountains), so roads to any fort were likely going to be wet in any case. And we’re talking about a time of tribal warfare, where in case of a raid by a neighboring tribe, people from villages would try to gather in their fort for protection - so a hidden road to the fort would be useful for the population in general, not just for armies (not that there would be a lot of difference between the two). And some of the roads continued to be useful shortcuts well into modern times.
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Not just a mummy, but a great great great great great great…great great great grandmummy.
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600s to 300s BCE, for those interested. The article didn’t say when the Saite Era was.
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