Archaeologists working in northern England have made an unusual find in the boggy remains of a Roman fort trench. They’ve discovered a shoe; not just any shoe — a leather sole so large (32 cm) it would fit a modern U.S. men’s size 14. Preserved in the depths of a defensive ditch, this nearly 2,000-year-old find offers a rare and personal glimpse into the lives of those stationed at the edges of an empire. It also hints at one giant soldier.

The shoe “was intact from toe to heel and immediately drew impressed gasps from volunteers and staff alike,” writes Rachel Frame, senior archaeologist at the Magna Project, as she reflected on the day her team unearthed the shoe.

Big Roman Shoes

The shoe was uncovered at Magna, a Roman fort located west of the famed Vindolanda site and just south of Hadrian’s Wall. Magna, also known by its ancient name Carvoran, was part of the chain of forts built to reinforce Hadrian’s Wall after it was constructed in the second century A.D. Though less well-known than Vindolanda, Magna also seems to have a remarkable trove of Roman artifacts.

The artifacts are very well preserved thanks to the rich, oxygen-free conditions in its ancient ditches — conditions that preserve not just pottery and bones, but leather, textiles, and even wood.

In late March, archaeologists started digging the various features around the fort, including ditches, banks, and ramparts. Around one rampart, they found an “ankle-breaker”. This would have been a common feature at Roman forts in Britain, says Frame in a Youtube video. The ankle breaker was a deep, narrow trench that would have been concealed by water and mud. If the attacker wasn’t paying attention, he would step into the ditch. It would then break his ankle, and trap him. It’s in this ditch that the team found the giant shoe.

A Piece of History

The big shoe isn’t the first one discovered at the site. The first one is even better preserved, though not as imposing. It has all its sole layers intact, which gives us a good look at how the Romans made their shoes. They weren’t simple sandals. They crafted them with multiple layers of leather, reinforced with thongs, stitching, and hobnails — iron studs pounded into the soles to grip slippery ground and stand up to long marches.

“It’s always exciting to find anything that hasn’t been touched for 2000 years but a shoe is such a personal item; it really puts you in touch with the people who used to live at the fort. Getting wet and muddy and digging in the wet is just a bonus,” says Jo, one of the volunteers who worked at the site and found the shoe.

Plenty More Left to Find

The archaeological dig hasn’t even moved into the fort itself; everything the researchers have found so far was inside the external ditches. Yet, already, the finds paint a complicated picture. And it’s not just military things that the team is finding. They uncovered, for instance, a wooden comb that shows a high level of craftsmanship. Even more intriguing is a marble makeup palette that would have been used to mix dry pigments with a fat or oil to form a paste. The make-up paste would have been applied to the lips, eyes, or face. Different pigments would have been used to create lipstick, blush, or maybe even eyeliner, the archaeologists say.

Objects like these remind us that this wasn’t just a place of war. It was a community. And every item pulled from the muck — whether a chunk of Samian pottery or a colossal sole — brings us closer to the people who once called the empire’s edge their home.

However, as with many archaeological digs in Europe, the team at Magna is racing against time. Climate change threatens the preservation of organic materials long protected by wet, anaerobic conditions. As soils dry and oxygen enters, leather, wood, and even textiles can begin to decay rapidly.

As for the shoe, it now sits in careful conservation. And though we may never learn the name of the giant-footed Roman who wore it, his footprint — literally — has endured nearly 2,000 years, waiting patiently to step back into history.