[Regia-NA] Hedeby shoes - inside seams

[Christina Krupp]

Hello again! I spent a little more time with the "Lederfunde von 
Haithabu" book, to see if I could find out where the toggles were 
(inside or outside). Unfortunately, the text of the report doesn't come 
right out and say. I already quoted the part about the *seams* being 
invariably towards the inside. As for the toggles and flaps -

I see seven sketches of  various 3-toggle over-the-ankle boots ("type 8" 
in the classification system) - in six of these seven, the toggles are 
on the same side as the seam (which would make them inside). For the 
seventh, it's a bit hard to make out - it looks like the seam on that 
shoe goes down the center back, and without an inner seam as reference 
point, I don't know on which side those toggles would fall. (These 
sketches don't show the shape of the sole, which might be helpful in 
answering this question.)

Shoe type 10 generally has a center front seam over the toe. This type 
of shoe is lower than type 8 - it's sort of a low ankle boot. This is 
the type of shoe that sometimes has a flap that is carried across the 
front of the foot and tied on the other side (but most shoes of this 
type don't have that feature). The sketches show two examples of the 
one-tied-flap shoe. In one, the seam is center-front so it's not 
possible to tell on which side the flap is tied. On the other, somewhat 
atypical for this style of shoe, the back seam is offset from the center 
back, and the flap ties on the *other* side of the shoe, making this a 
possible example of a shoe that ties on the outside of the foot.

I hope that helps!

Brihtwen