Posted on 07/14/2025 1:25:49 PM PDT by Red Badger
Archaeologists working at the Magna Roman Fort in northern England have made a series of huge discoveries, in the very literal sense.
Recent excavations at the ancient Roman fortification have unearthed several examples of gigantic shoes, with one representing what could be among the largest examples of historic footwear ever found.
The unusual discoveries are offering researchers fresh new insights into the diversity of the people who worked along Hadrian’s Wall close to 2,000 years ago.
A Gigantic Discovery The discoveries are among the latest that have made their way into the Vindolanda Charitable Trust’s remarkable collection, with similar examples of Roman footwear already numbering close to 5,000 shoes unearthed from the nearby Roman Vindolanda site.
From 2000-year-old baby shoes to more rugged footwear worn by Roman soldiers, the archaeological discoveries made at the site offer researchers a unique glimpse at the connections between everyday items in the lives of men, women, and children from the Roman frontier.
However, the recent discovery of one extremely large Roman shoe at the dig site came as an unexpected addition to the growing collection of Roman footwear archaeologists are uncovering.
Excavations at Magna Fort Throughout the summer dig season at Magna Fort, around 32 preserved Roman shoes have been uncovered. These artifacts were preserved in large part thanks to the low-oxygen, semi-anaerobic conditions in the surrounding soil.
However, the team quickly realized that some of the discoveries they were unearthing weren’t the usual kind their past excavations had yielded. In particular, a massive leather shoe sole discovered by the team in mid-May was so large that it reportedly caused gasps among the archaeologists as it was removed from the surrounding soil.
“There was no doubt about the size of the second shoe we recovered from the very base of the ditch, was intact from toe to heel and immediately drew impressed gasps from volunteers and staff alike,” read a Magna Dig Diary entry on the 21st of May written by Rachel Frame, Senior Archaeologist at the site.
gigantic shoes
One of the largest among the gigantic shoes unearthed at Magna Fort, which measures 32.5 cm (Image Credit: The Vindolanda Trust).
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Frame added that “the sheer size of the shoe and guesses about who could have worn it dominated the conversation.” The sole was measured to be 32 cm long, which is comparable to a UK men’s size 12-14 in modern footwear. While not particularly uncommon today, an individual with a shoe size that large walking among the Romans working at Hadrian’s Wall 2000 years ago would likely have seemed gigantic indeed.
The massive shoe is currently one of the largest in the Trust’s collection. More remarkable still is that it wasn’t the only example of super-sized early Roman footwear the team would unearth.
More gigantic Shoes Are Discovered
As the initial discovery of the Roman “giant” shoe attracted significant attention among archaeologists at Magna Fort, soon more discoveries began to follow. Altogether, researchers at the site say they have now uncovered eight shoes that all measure 30 cm or greater, with one 32.6 cm specimen topping out as the largest now held in the Trust’s growing collection of ancient footwear.
By comparison, most of the shoes previously found at the site measure between just 24 and 26 cm, with recent larger examples representing less than half a percent of the shoes excavated at Vindolanda.
“I think there is something very different going on here at Magna,” said Dr. Elizabeth Greene, a shoe specialist for the Trust and Associate Professor at the University of Western Ontario, who added that, “it is clear that these shoes are much larger on average than most of the Vindolanda collection”.
Noting the unusual nature of the recent finds, Greene added that “even taking into account a maximum shrinkage of up to 1 cm/10 mm, it still means these shoes are very large indeed.”
VIDEO AT LINK............
Trouble ‘Afoot’ for Future Discoveries?
Greene and her colleagues believe the diversity seen in the Magna shoe collection may reflect a mix of cultural, physical, and possibly even regional differences among the regiments stationed along the Wall.
However, recent concerning climate events could spell trouble for future excavations, meaning that important information about the ancient way of life at sites like Magna Fort could potentially be lost before archaeologists are able to collect information from these locations.
Dr Andrew Birley, the Trust’s CEO and Director of Excavations, said in a statement that the recent discoveries at the site “really shows us what is at risk if climate change continues to rob us of such vital information.”
“It reminds us that not every population was the same, that wide variations between the regiments and people who served along Hadrian’s Wall, could be cultural and physical,” Birley said.
“Without artefacts like these wonderful shoes from Magna and Vindolanda, it would be almost impossible to know information like this,” Birley added. “We can only celebrate and marvel at the diversity and differences of these people if we can still see them in the archaeological data we gather today”.
Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. He can be reached by email at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow his work at micahhanks.com and on X: @MicahHanks.
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them.
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them.
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them.
“Founder Petrie an early Egyptian archeologist ....”
I believe you mean Flinders Petrie.
There’s no surprise that during that era there were men (Roman Soldiers) that were over 6 foot tall.
Yes my laptop made a “correction” for me!
He Phil I’m were killed off with the rest of the world’s inhabitants, except Noah and his immediate family and their wives.
“Yes my laptop made a “correction” for me!”
LOL, I suspected it was something like that.
Bigfoot hoaxers even then
Yes someone wrote the article in the modern journalistic inflammatory style. Long on hyperbole & exaggeration short on factual information. Title written purely to catch your intention.
I don’t see the mystery, it was just small Shire Hobbits pressed into to service by the Romans.
My biological father was 6’8” and wore a size 13 boot/shoe. He was a mean, obnoxious SOB, but definitely not a Nephilim-he was of Hispanic ancestry with maybe 1/4 Eastern German. Neither of his 2 brothers were that tall/big-they were maybe 6’3”. My 100% Hispanic mom was 5’4”, my bro is 6’ft, and I’m 5’8”-we are both small, slender frame-not Nephilim. I’ll bet very tall people were more common than we have thought previously in ancient times-just not as common as now...
“According the Grok”
WTH does that mean?
Grok is basically a more advanced search engine than the classic search engines.
I just asked it the size of a human if his sandals were 32.5cm.
According to Grok, 6’8-8’2, depending on his proportions.
They made giant shoes, left them by the gate. Enemies snuck up at night, took one look at those shoes, and ran away, scared shitless.
grok.com is an AI assisted search tool-works great...
Thank you for elaborating...
And the ladies say, “wow, look at that shoe size! you don’t suppose ...”
You would think the Romans would offer enlistment incentives for very big men. Then a size 13 shoe isn’t so remarkable.
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