On the Dürrnberg near Hallein in Salzburg, archaeologists from the German Mining Museum in Bochum have discovered a very well-preserved children’s shoe that is more than 2000 years old. The museum reports on its website that the salt in the old mining tunnels preserved the leather shoe and the remains of a lace.
Scientists from the German Mining Museum in Bochum have been conducting mining archeology since 2001 on the Dürrnberg, where rock salt was mined as far back as the Iron Age.
Shoe in “excellent” condition
During this year’s excavation campaign at the Georgenberg tunnel, a former salt mine tunnel, where well-preserved remains of cloth, fur clothing and shoes were found, a team led by Thomas Stöllner found a children’s shoe whose condition he describes as “excellent”. It roughly corresponds to the current shoe size 30, a size that would fit a child around five years old.
Documented presence of children underground
“Organic materials usually decompose over time. Finds such as this infancy’s shoe, but also textile remains or faeces, such as those found on the Dürrnberg, offer an extremely rare insight into the life of Iron Age miners. They provide valuable information for our scientific work,” explains Stöllner. A children’s shoe is always something special, because it proves the presence of children underground.
The flax lacing has also been preserved
What is special is that a remnant of a lacing of the flax or linen shoe has been preserved. For example, conclusions can be drawn about the lacing of the shoes, the researchers emphasize. Based on the design, they assume the footwear was made in the 2nd century BC.
In the immediate vicinity of the find, the archaeologists of the German Mining Museum in Bochum also discovered other organic remains, about half of the shovel blade of a wooden shovel and remains of fur with a lacing that may have belonged to a fur hat.
The excavations continue
According to the museum, the excavations will continue in the coming years. The aim is to unlock the full scope of mining and thus gain as complete a knowledge as possible about the work of Iron Age miners and their way of life. In addition, it is necessary to find out how large the mining halls at Dürrnberg were.
Source: Krone
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