Preserved Iron Age shoe at mine suggests child labor

A suspected child’s shoe from the Iron Age salt mine in Austria has been discovered during recent excavations. The shoe, made from leather, was discovered in a mining tunnel. It is believed the salty microenvironment of the surrounding mine helped to preserve the organic material of the shoe.

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The shoe is made of leather and roughly corresponds to today’s shoe size 30. The shape, as well as the lace-up closures, which were likely made of flax or linen, are still intact. The shoe’s design provides additional indications of its manufacture, which was most likely in the second century B.C.

Although I find this to be a fascinating discovery, much of the hype around the story is the assumption that this was not an adult’s shoe, instead. A child’s size 30 in Europe is equivalent to a 7.25” in the US (US size 12.5 and U.K. 11.5 children’s).

https://arkeonews.net/extremely-well-preserved-2000-year-old-childs-leather-shoe-discovered-during-archaeological-mine-excavations/

https://footwearnews.com/fashion/fashion-news/children-preserved-shoe-museum-iron-age-1203511657/