AMSTERDAM—The Dutch are globally recognized for their iconic wooden shoes, and the recent discovery of a 500-year-old clog in the city of Alkmaar highlights the widespread use of this footwear in the past.
Archaeologist Silke Lange shared, “It was found in an urban cesspit, which makes it particularly special. When we think of wooden shoes, we usually associate them with farmers using them for work. However, this finding reveals that they were also used for everyday wear in urban settings.”
The ancient wooden shoe was unearthed in a cesspit uncovered during the construction of an underground waste container in Alkmaar, located approximately 18.6 miles northwest of Amsterdam.
According to archaeologists, the cesspit served as a toilet and waste disposal site from approximately 1450 to 1558.
A view of a 16th-century Dutch clog, which was found in a cesspool in Alkmaar, at a laboratory in Zaandam, Netherlands, on Dec. 20, 2024. Hilde Verweij/Reuters
This particular clog, sized European 36 (UK 3.5), is believed to have been crafted towards the end of the 15th or early 16th century.
It is a rare find as it is the first birch wood clog discovered in the Netherlands and one of only 44 wooden shoes found in excavations across the Netherlands and Belgium.
By Hilde Verweij
