Two atypical shoes from Puck from the late 14th c.

Abstract

Among the many remains of footwear revealed in the excavations carried out in the area of the chartered town in Puck, there were two pieces atypical in terms of the fastening and production technique. Both were found in the waste of a shoe-maker’s workshop, whose relicts were dated dendrochronologically to the 4th quarter of the 14th century.One of them was a large-size man’s shoe with a high upper slit at the front, fastened with a split lace (Fig. 1). Its whole-cut upper was made of cowhide, with an insert; it was reinforced with a heel stiffener made of sheep or goat skin; and the topedge had an top band. A fragment of inner lining has survived, in the form of the underside layer of skin, whose structure indi-cated that it had not come from grown-up cattle. The lining may have been made of split leather or of full-grain leather whose grain was fully delaminated. The sole and the upper were joined by the turn-welt construction method, with an additional wood-pinned outer sole.The other find was also a man’s shoe, with a high upper slit at the front, fastened with at least two belts with holes and — most probably — metal buckles (Fig. 2.). Its whole-cut upper was made of calfskin, with an insert; the back was reinforced with a wide heel stiffener and the top edge with a top binding. The sole, of the turn-welt construction, was reinforced inside with a heel seat and on the outside with extra pieces in the forefoot and heel areas. The outside reinforcement left a regular line of holes on the wide rand (Fig. 2g). Traces of corrosion indicate that the outer sole was fixed with hobnails. Apart from that, the welt shows some irregular holes with remnants of a leather band, which are probably traces of repairs or of exchanging the reinforcement parts.The shoes/footwear from Puck are a very early example of applying the turn-welt construc-tion; there have been no analogical finds in Poland so far. Their construction and fastening, as well as the location of the sites where analogical finds have been revealed, suggest that they were not produced in the local workshop.