He died with his boots on

I came upon an online post from X which linked to an article from Archaeo - Histories. The subject matter is about a skeleton discovered during the excavation of the Thames Tideway Tunnel. It probably dates from the late fifteenth century and is that of a man, probably in his early thirties, who met with what appears to have been an accidental death on the Thames foreshore. 

The remarkable thing is that significant portions of the long leather boots the man was wearing have survived in the mud. 

Modern anatomical archaeology reveals much about the man, his health, and his life. Further research in his remains should reveal where he grew up and other aspects of his life. It is not clear if he was a mariner or a landlubber, but his seemingly hard life is still revealed to a surprising extent, and that enriches our knowledge of life at the time. 

The post can be seen at Archaeo - Histories (@archeohistories)

 

The Thames below the Tower of London in the sixteenth century.

This was the probable area in which the man spent much of his life. A nineteenth century engraving based on Antony van de Wyngaerde’s drawing of London in the 1540s

Image: Wikisource