13th century leather footwear from Vilnius Lower Castle
Volume 30 (2023), pp. 133–143
Pub. online: 28 December 2023
Type: Article
Open Access
Open Access
Received
15 July 2023
15 July 2023
Revised
5 September 2023
5 September 2023
Accepted
14 October 2023
14 October 2023
Published
28 December 2023
28 December 2023
Abstract
During the archaeological excavations in the territory of the Palace of the Grand Dukes in Vilnius,
the remains of leather footwear dating back to the late 13th century was discovered. These
were only the cut-off lower parts of the footwear, a pair inserted one into the other and stored
in a box together with other exceptional artefacts of that time. The footwear was made of expensive
dyed goat leather. The luxurious leather items of footwear were reconstructed on the basis
of various conducted artefact tests and studies. Based on the construction properties, it can be
assumed that they were intended for indoor wear. Artefacts of analogous construction are only
rarely discovered. Known examples were discovered during the excavations in Velikii Novgorod,
Tver, Hrodna and several other locations to the east of the Baltic Sea. The artefacts from these
territories date back to the late 11th to early 14th centuries.