Hochdorf golden shoe ornaments (c. 530 BCE.)
While the original, probably leather, shoes have disappeared, these delicate golden ornaments that were affixed to the shoes remain shiny and bright. They have remained this way since the day in 530 BCE when the Iron Age Celtic Hochdorf Chieftain’s tomb closed for the last time, at least until archaeologists excavated the site in 1978-1979.
Historians and archaeologists believe the shoes belonged to the Hallstatt Celtic-era prince buried within the tomb, a man of approximately 40 years old, who once stood about six feet, two inches tall (187 cm). The contents of the grave reveal significant wealth, including jewelry (including a gold-plated torc around his neck) and beads, a birch bark hat, a comb, nail clippers, and bronze, bone, and antler tools like arrows, fishing hooks, and a dagger. His afterlife was set for a party; nine drinking horns were found mounted on the wall, enough to serve nine people.
