Basic clothing items such as coats and shoes have accompanied humanity for several millennia. Materials and design change over time, but the intended use remains practically the same. What's more, a recent discovery in Austria revealed something simply stunning.
One was found shoe this belonged to a child and the piece is more than two thousand years old. What stands out is the condition of the laces, which look almost like new. According to measurements by experts, the size of the object in current measurements corresponds to a number of 28.
According to the German Mining Museum BochumLeibniz Research Museum for Georesources, the evidence collected so far suggests that the piece was made in the 2nd century BC. BC, a period known as the “Iron Age”.
How could the shoe remain almost intact?
Source: German Mining Museum Bochum/Reproduction.
They referred shoe It was found by archaeologists in the western village of Dürrnberg, a place where rock salt mining had been carried out since the abovementioned period. Therefore, it is believed that the element responsible for such an amazing preservation of the item was precisely salt.
“Our research activities at Dürrnberg have been providing us with valuable insights for decades to scientifically research early mining activities. “The condition of the shoe found is excellent,” said Professor Thomas Stöllner, head of the research department at the German Mining Museum.
Therefore, the work continues and the scientists' goal is to find more artifacts to learn more about the life of these ancient miners, as the museum explains. But in addition to shoeIn addition to a piece of a wooden shovel blade, other organic remains were also unearthed.
In addition, the pieces of shoelaces found were probably made of fiber or linen, according to a statement from the body responsible for the progress of the excavations in this Austrian region.
“Organic materials generally decompose over time. “Finds like this child’s shoe, but also textile remains or excrement like those at Dürrnberg, offer an extremely rare insight into the life of Iron Age miners,” adds Stöllner.