Archaeologists excavating a Roman-era fort in northern England have unearthed several enormous ancient leather soles that measure more than 11.8 inches (30 centimeters) long.
The finds add to the archaeologists’ growing collection of supersized ancient footwear found at the ancient fort, known as Magna. The researchers now have eight of these extra-extra-large shoes — a quarter of the total found at the site.
The shoes were discovered at Magna — also known as Carvoran — a fort along Hadrian’s Wall, which was built around A.D. 122 to demarcate the northern extent of the Roman Empire. Magna 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.
It’s not that big? My shoes are one EU size larger, and just small enough that I don’t have to order specialty shoes. That starts at 47 and above. 46 are usually made for most models
Possibly very big at the time. Over the course of the last century we have grown a lot and the average height is much higher because we’re eating much more. I suppose feet size have also increased.