From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
I have a question regarding 'Experimental' archeology -
If - say- I am working on a pair of turnsole shoes and I 're-invent the
wheel' - figure out
something that many others have already figured out - but the info is new
to me.
Is this 'Experimental' archeology?
It may depend on what you've discovered.
For instance, one of the questions that keeps getting asked about medieval
shoes is what are the welts for. The usual answer is tohhelp make them
watertight (probably since welts in certain water containers serve that
purpose). Anyone who's ever worn leather shoes will tell you that unless
you add anachronistic chemicals, or a ludicrous amount of grease, they
aren't going to be water "tight", which shoots a hole in an hypothesis. The
second hypothesis is that they are there to help protect the thread in the
seam from "grinning", and they do that adequately, even with modern
materials.
However, if you use the correct pit tanned leather for the sole, and welts,
and on a period shaped last, you quickly discover that the purpose of the
welt is to extend the sole to the footprint of the foot. They are a part of
the sole. This is only apparent though if you are using leather that reacts
in the same way as the medieval leather does (and modern leathers do not) -
because medieval sole leather is stiffer (when dry) than the modern stuff.
When it's wet, however, that same sole material becomes flexible enough that
some of the sewing techniques that go back to the Romans become possible,
using the tools available.
It would be better, however, if this research was published someplace where
people could actually access it, and make their own tests :)
Marc
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