Leather was a highly valuable material during the Tudor era in the United Kingdom, making this find all the more remarkable.
A man’s skeleton believed to be 500 years old was discovered face-down in the mud by London’s river Thames. What makes this discovery unique is that the skeleton was discovered wearing thigh-high leather boots that were nearly completely intact.
Archeologists working on the city’s new “super sewer” discovered the skeleton in the Bermondsey neighborhood of south London. The $5.4 billion project will capture, store, and transport raw sewage and rainwater that is currently flooding the river.
The discovery of the leather boot-clad skeleton has prompted archeologists to conduct additional research at the site before proceeding with the “super sewer” construction.
Leather was a highly coveted material during Tudor times in England, according to Mola Headland, the firm in charge of the sewer construction project.
They believe it is highly unlikely that a corpse would have been buried with such a valuable item, indicating that this man’s death was most likely accidental.
The company also stated that the banks of the Thames were not the safest places to be in the 15th and 16th centuries. According to the archaeologists, the man could have been “a fisherman, a mudlark, or possibly a sailor.”
“Leather can be very well preserved in London, especially if it’s found in a ditch full of water or near the riverfront,” said Beth Richardson, a Mola archaeological team finds specialist. As a result, archeologists are not surprised that the leather has remained intact over the centuries.
The shape and style of the boots are particularly appealing to Richardson. She explains that boots this high were extremely unusual during the man’s lifetime:
Because of this, archeologists believe the skeleton was most likely a fisherman or dock worker. According to Richardson, these boots were far from fashionable. “These were very simple boots,” Richardson says, explaining that they’re the modern-day equivalent of rain boots, or “wellies” as they’re known in the United Kingdom.
Other details about the man, aside from the thigh-high leather boots he wore during his untimely death, provide clues to his identity. This man had extensive degenerative joint disease along his spine and left hip joint, which could indicate that he did a lot of physical labor throughout his life, according to experts.
An osteologist, Niamh Carty, believes he was probably older than 35 at the time of his death.
Although archeologists will probably never be able to determine the man’s cause of death conclusively, they have no reason to suspect foul play.
“He could have been working in the river and the tide got to him, he could have fallen over, he could have been tired,” Richardson speculated. “He might have had a little too much to drink.” We honestly don’t know.”
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