A prehistoric explorer was traversing the Horse Ice Patch in Western Norway, a treacherous alpine route more than 2,000 meters above sea level, in the fourth century AD. A worn leather sandal with a design similar to one seen in Rome, which is approximately 3,000 kilometers away, must have been lost or discarded along the route. What a shame too, because it's clear that this sandal was made to last.
A shoe was discovered at the location after nearly 1,700 years when an abnormally warm summer in 2019 melted the top layers of snow and ice that had been building there for generations. Fortunately, it was discovered by a local hiker who recognized its historical value.
He snapped a few photos and sent them, along with the location's coordinates, to researchers with the Secrets of the Ice glacial archaeology program, which has found thousands of artifacts in the melting glaciers and ice of Norway, including Viking-era tunics and Medieval wooden skis.
Secrets of the Ice authors Espen Finstad and his team were familiar with the locale. A 700-year-old medieval horseshoe and a horse leg bone were previously discovered nearby. They quickly began excavations after hastily arriving at the site on the Horse Ice Patch trail, recovering the shoe as well as other artifacts like arrow shafts, fabrics, and even frozen horse feces.
They also completed their work just in time because the trail was completely covered in deep snow the very next day. This fortunate sandal would have likely never been discovered if the storm had started sooner.
These sandals were made for walking
The rawhide shoe was identified after examinations by Vegard Vike, an archaeological conservator at the Kulturhistorisk Museum in Oslo, as a size nine sandal made in the popular Roman carbatina type that swept Europe at the beginning of the Western Roman Empire.
Rock cairns like the one pictured here mark ancient routes to and from the passes across the Norwegian mountains. Credit: Secrets of the Ice.
The likelihood that the traveler was a genuine Roman tourist cannot be completely ruled out, but it is extremely doubtful. However, the discovery of Roman footwear so far north and more than a thousand kilometers from the empire's boundary demonstrates the Romans' influence.
To withstand the bitter cold, the wearer must have had heavy woolen wrappings or socks made of animal hide in addition to the sandal. Lars Pil, an archaeologist with Secrets of the Ice, thinks it is more likely the traveler simply discarded the sandal as trash, finding it too worn out to be of any further use. However, the wearer may have misplaced his shoe while hiking through the arid region.
This gentleman probably had a fresh pair of shoes with him specifically for this occasion, like a seasoned traveler. Lucky for us, another person's trash can be someone else's treasure.
A network of pathways connects Norway's interior to its coast and is dispersed throughout the Horse Ice Patch. People using these pathways with their pack horses were probably busy hauling supplies, plunder, and trade goods like leather, antlers, and animal skins. Travelers would have exchanged their goods for salt, barley, and dried fish once they reached the fjord on the other side of the trail, then made the difficult trip back to their settlement.
The majority of these paths, which were heavily traveled in ancient and medieval times, are today quite difficult to find because they were abandoned and are now covered in snow and ice. However, occasionally archaeologists are fortunate to unearth a free old artifact, like this obstinate Roman sandal, which aids them in identifying the paths and organizing new missions.
Because of the construction of improved roads in the lowlands beginning in the middle of the 19th century, Pil told Ars Technica, "the high mountain passes were largely abandoned."
A reconstruction of the Roman sandal found in Norway’s frozen mountain paths. Credit: Vegard Vike at the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo.
Vike carefully examined the torn 1,700-year-old sandal's intricacies and created the reproduction you see below. The original shoe, however, probably had a more rough appearance and was better suited for climbing in the mountains than this utilitarian reproduction.
For more than 15 years, Finstad and his group have been investigating Norway's historic mountain pathways. They are constantly searching the barren, icy landscape during each mission for buried clues. You can bet that archaeologists from Secrets of the Ice will get their boots wet the moment the upcoming summer melt occurs.
It's a very large puzzle. Since we started hunting for hints, we've been on the verge of discovering where these mountain passes go. And then one of them is exposed by these discoveries. Simply put, it's quite thrilling, said Finstad to Science Norway.
