This seems to be a week for spectacular archaeological clothing finds.
Yesterday, I stumbled across this article about the find of a nearly-complete third century C.E. find in Breheimen National Park, Norway. The article has a reasonably good color photograph of the find, which to me looks a bit like the tunic of approximately the second century C.E. found at Martres-de-Veyre (scroll about two-thirds of the way down to the bottom of this page for better pictures) in France. If I'm understanding the Google Translate version of the article correctly, this tunic, like the one at Martres-le-Veyre, is made from woven wool. Unlike the Martres-le-Veyre find, it is believed to have been worn by a man, but, like the Martres-le-Veyne find, it was worn with a belt. It is part of a number of personal items found at the same site in the mountains, including shoes, textiles, jewelry, hunting gear and tent pegs. Perhaps that type of garment was generally used during the period and was not simply regional, as the name "Gallic coat" given to the Martres-le-Veyre find implies.
Also found recently, at nearby Jotunheimen--a leather shoe, of similar vintage, which is a dead-ringer for the Armenian shoe I mentioned in yesterday's post. Likely that means only that simple sewn leather shoes were used for a long, long time--from prehistory into the Middle Ages. Still, the resemblance is striking.
Thank you so much for the link! I am passing it along as we speak, of course with a reference back here as well. =)
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! Always glad to be of service.
ReplyDeleteOooh, fascinating! Thank you for posting! It wouldn't surprise me if they made the same kind of shoes for a long time. I mean, chemises from 1800 are made on essentially the same pattern as tunics found in ancient Egyptian tombs.
ReplyDeleteMy impression is that shoes did not change much from the height of the Roman Empire until the end of the Middle Ages, and the new find confirms that thought. Thanks for visiting.
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