13th century leather footwear from Vilnius Lower Castle

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.