Visual References:
Journal References:
"A large number of shoes have been found in the Danish peat bogs, which are dated to the younger Bronze Age (1100-500 BC) and the older Iron Age (500 BC-400 AD). These findings provide a detailed insight into prehistoric shoe construction and shoe production. The shoes consist mainly of a single piece of hide or skin without a separate sole, which was folded around the foot, but most often they have a heel seam. The shoes were held in place around the foot by leather laces, and from time to time minor additions to the overall design such as incisions, a tongue or inserted wedges are seen. In addition, it was common to improve the fit with cut holes and tongues, or stitching. This flexible construction involved no special cutting or processing for right and left shoes, but wear marks show that the shoes were subsequently worn as left and right shoes. There also does not seem to be a difference between men's and women's footwear in this period, and children's footwear is of the same type, just smaller."
(Prehistoric shoes - Ulla Mannering, The costume journal. Vol 7, Issue 9, 2013)
“Both sexes wore one-piece leather shoes with tie strings, or textile shoes, or mittens"
(Broholm & Hald 1940; Hald 1972)