An account of the Roman hobnail radiography article
James Elliott - September 2025
Roman Hobnail Radiography
What is the project?
Back in 2021 I provided imaging for several soil blocks containing Roman hobnails from an excavation in Canterbury, led by Canterbury Archaeological Trust. The soil blocks were lifted from burials at 5-5a Rhodaus Town. At the time, my colleague Adelina Teoaca suggested we image the blocks to confirm the presence of hobnails prior to their (micro-) excavation and subsequent storage. When we saw the pattern of hobnails on the X-rays, I began to wonder whether the X-rays may be useful to understand more about the shoes. After a number of year, I began to inspect the X-rays carefully and research the topic. This webpage provides a brief summary of the subsequent article, co-authored by Adelina and myself.
The full article is available here.
A supplementary data file can be accessed here, providing precise details about the graves alongside photo's/X-rays of soil blocks.
I had a fun, if short, interview with BBC Radio Kent to explain the broad findings. You can listen to the interview on 'The author' webpage.
The archaeological site report by Richard Helm can be accessed here, provided by the Archaeological Data Service.
Abstract
This study presents the radiographic imaging and analysis of eight soil-blocks containing hobnailed footwear from a Romano-British cemetery (5-5a Rhodaus Town, Canterbury, England). The site, dated to the Late Roman period, underwent archaeological excavation prior to commercial development in 2019. Of the 215 inhumations identified, 51 contained evidence of footwear by virtue of hobnails in varying quantities. For a selection of graves, radiography was performed upon soil-blocks with the aim of demonstrating footwear design and dimensions using hobnail distribution, despite the absence of leatherwork. The resultant imaging showed a range of designs in keeping with known examples elsewhere and can assist dating according to changes in fashion.
Dimensions of footwear length and width appeared to correlate with descriptions of interred individuals within the osteological report. Limitations for the use of radiography includes taphonomic changes within the grave, damage during excavation, or post-excavation changes within the soil-block which alter the original position of hobnails. Geometric unsharpness is also an inherent limitation within radiography and impacts the accuracy of measurements. Despite this, radiography has been demonstrated as a useful tool, providing a permanent imaging record prior to micro-excavation and aiding identification of footwear type and design. Of particular utility is the imaging of soil-blocks where no skeletal remains have survived, in which case footwear design and dimensions may offer the only clues for age-at-death, biological sex, and social status.
Author's thoughts
This was a fun project. I suspected the X-rays might be useful to learn more about the footwear but it needed investigative effort to delve into the literature. The vast majority of research had been conducted by Carol van Driel-Murray with the finds from Vindolanda, where many shoes were preserved due to the wet conditions. Leather could be inspected first-hand and Carol provided categories for shoes and even noted the change in design across the centuries, in keeping with changing Roman tastes. In contrast, many excavation sites around England and within the Roman world lack the same conditions to preserve leather. Only the hobnails are found, hinting at the existence of a shoe. With forethought and planning, soil block-lifting could be used to remove the hobnails and soil for X-ray imaging. As shown in the article, the quantity and distribution of hobnails can provide clues about the original shoe design and therefore usage.
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