Viking-Era Footwear Finder

Archaeologists have recorded hundreds of examples of leather shoes that date to the "Viking Age," and several parts of Europe have yielded large numbers of shoes in many different styles. This page is intended to provide an overview of the locations and general date ranges of the various shoe styles worn within the Norse sphere of influence from the raid on Lindisfarne to the Norman conquest of England. Finds are also included from some areas beyond the regions settled by Scandinavians, as they help provide context - some shoe styles were extremely long-lived and/or widespread.

Each dot on the main map represents the presence of a particular shoe type (general style and cutting pattern) in the archaeological record at that location. To find out what sort of shoes a person living in a particular area might have worn, use the map to navigate to that region and click on the dots to see what styles of shoes have been found there. The pop-up will show the style name and basic cutting pattern (based on the classification system used by calceologist Marquita Volken), the location of the find, the approximate date range for the shoe style at that location, and an illustration showing an example of that style and pattern.

At the present time (September 2020), the map includes 169 data points with 29 general styles and 55 combinations of style and cutting pattern. As time permits, the map will be updated with additional finds in the future.

The dots do not represent a precise find location; at best, they show a general vicinity (500 meter radius), but many are simply mapped to the geographic center of whatever community is listed in the documentation. To find more information on a specific find, please refer to the bibliographical source listed in the pop-up.

A dot represents the presence of a particular style/pattern combination at that location. Where multiple examples of a style were found in the same general location, they are represented by a single dot unless an example deviated from the others substantially as far as the estimated date range provided in the source. Most dating information is based on the data compiled by Marquita Volken in Archaeological Footwear; unless a narrower date range was provided for a particular example, the date range reflects the overall range Volken provided for the style. Some styles persisted beyond what is considered the nominal end of the 'Viking Age;' this map does not include instances of a style listed by Volken that are dated after 1100 CE.

Navigate to the area of interest by dragging or zooming (try double-tap if using mobile), then click on a dot to see information about it. Some areas have multiple documented finds. To browse all examples at that location, use the arrow buttons in the upper right of the pop-up (circled in red). To pin the pop-up to the bottom left corner of the map, click the window icon (red arrow).

The map may take a moment to load on some mobile devices; if no dots appear, try zooming in a little bit.

Style: each style is named (typically after the location of an early find), and styles are based on the overall appearance of the shoe, locations of seams, types of fastening, and other characteristics that distinguish it from others.

Pattern: a given style may have been made using more that one type of cutting pattern. The patterns are assigned a letter based on the shape of the pattern when flattened out. Some patterns are made entirely from a single piece of leather, including an integral sole. Other patterns are made using a separate sole and one or more pieces for the uppers.

This chart shows the very generic schematic shape of the cutting pattern for each pattern type represented by a letter. Overall, the M, W, B, and Y patterns have an integral sole (shaded in blue where applicable), while the others have separate soles.

Here are a few more visuals that provide background information on the distribution of finds and which styles are most common across multiple regions and centuries. The map below shows which areas show the greatest diversity of shoe types found.

Some shoe styles are only documented in a few areas, while others have been found at many different locations. The Lund, Wedelspang, Glambeck, St. Aldates, Wolin, Oslo, and Wijk styles were found in eight or more different locations, indicating a relatively widespread use. The slideshow below shows a representative image of each and provides some information about dates, locations, and pattern frequency based on the dataset.

For those interested in a particular shoe, the sources listed for each shoe will include detailed information on patterning and construction. Volken's thorough volume contains specific cutting diagrams, along with references to earlier reports documenting individual finds. Other resources, such as the book  Stepping Through Time , can provide additional technical information for those who wish to learn more about historical shoemaking itself. This page is merely intended to present known finds in an interactive map and hopefully pique someone's interest.

The following sources provided the information on shoe finds, typology, and dating.

 Volken, Marquita. Archaeological footwear : development of shoe patterns and styles from prehistory till the 1600's. [Zwolle] : SPA Uitgevers, [2014]. 

 Hald, Margrethe & Ingeborg Nixon. Primitive Shoes: an archaeological-ethnological study based upon finds from the Jutland peninsula. Copenhagen: Nationalmuseet, 1972. 

 Olsson, Andreas (2017). Maritima Birka : Arkeologisk rapport över marinarkeologiska undersökningar av kulturlager och pålanläggning i vattenområdet utanför Svarta jorden på Björkö 2004–2014, Arkeologisk rapport 2017:13 Stockholm. 

I'd like to keep expanding this as new information comes to light. If you know of additional finds (complete enough to reconstruct) that you'd like to see added to the map, please  contact me  with the find spot, diagram or sketch of the shoe, and a bibliographical source.