Eighteenth century shoe sole (VCU_3D_1452)

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The sole of a leather shoe was salvaged from the shipwrecked Betsy, anchored in the York River, just off the coast of Yorktown, Virginia. The remains of Betsy were remarkably well-preserved, allowing researchers to gather valuable data on eighteenth-century shipbuilding techniques and furnishings (Broadwater 1992:39). This shoe sole was part of a fleet intentionally sunk by British forces in 1781. For more information, consult John Broadwater's "Shipwreck in a Swimming Pool: An Assessment of the Methodology and Technology Utilized on the Yorktown Shipwreck Archaeological Project" (Historical Archaeology 26(4):26-46) or his article "Yorktown Shipwreck" featured in the June 1988 issue of National Geographic, pages 804-823. The shoe sole was digitally scanned using a Go!Scan 50 at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources' archaeological curation facility in Richmond, Virginia.