Archive: 09/19/2011

Roman festivities in Vicques

The first Roman festival in Vicques for the inauguration of the information pavilion concerning the Roman villa that stood there 2,000 years ago.

The pavillion is a mini museum with big windows showing and models and copies of the object found on this site. No need to observe visiting hours, the collection can be seen day and night all year through. The event was planned to be festive, but most of all informative and educational. The local group of Volonteers (Groupement pour la revalorisation de la villa romaine de Vicques) did a spledid job indeed.

On the radio

How a shoe can be dated (in French), to hear on Radio Suisse Romande la première (RSR1), radio show “impatience” Sept. 14th 2011

Calceology, the discipline of studies of old shoes, where shoes are a tool to date an archaeological site. Because shoes change with fashion and fashion changes rapidly those common object become a crucial indicator of time, able to narrow down time frames where C14 dating lacks in accuracy.

Medieval pattens

Medieval footwear had thin soles and pattens would give an extra protection against the cold, wet and dirt from the ground. Leather-cork pattern where at first for indoor use. Wood pattens would ease walking in wet dirt.

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The Arnolfini portrait by Jan van Eick shows us both versions: the wooden pattens (1) with street dirt stuck to them and the neatly put away leather pattens (2) at the foot of the bench.

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