Old soles: 800-year-old shoe soles yield clues about preservation of leather
Wednesday, March 4, 2009 - 17:14
in Paleontology & Archaeology
Ancient garbage can be like gold to archaeologists. During excavation of an 800-year-old trash dump in Lyon, France, scientists discovered the archaeological equivalent of golden shoe soles: A trove of leather soles of shoes, which is helping scientists understand how leather stays preserved in wet, oxygen-free environments.