The Barcelona Archeology Service has completed the treatment of 13 pieces of leather from the interventions carried out in the Migdia bastion and Plaça de Pau Vila, in Barceloneta. The archaeological work has made it possible to rescue parts of shoes, mainly soles, but also heels, toes, canes and insteps from the 17th and 18th centuries.
The pieces found in Plaça Pau Vila are fragments of skin – the largest about 30 cm long by 20 cm wide – which have not been identified. In any case, it seems that it is not manufactured leather – leather tanned to ensure stability – but rather a raw material, probably a goat skin.
In both interventions, the pieces were found in a humid environment, something that is rare in the pieces found so far in Barcelona. Its treatment requires specific knowledge. This is why the technical advice of the conservator-restorer and archaeologist specialist in leather Céline Bonnot-Diconne has been sought.
In most cases, it was necessary to carry out a chemical treatment to remove the metal oxides, the first step in a complex restoration operation. A solution of water and polyethylene glycol (PEG) was also used, a substance that is used in fields such as cosmetics, medicine and industry because it is a water-soluble, biodegradable and non-toxic polymer.
During the archaeological intervention carried out in 2014 in the Migdia bastion, specifically in Plaça del Duc de Medinaceli, they also recovered, among others, a set of leather objects, mostly fragments of footwear or, even everything, whole shoes found in the filling of a Sewage canal.
The numerous works that are being carried out in Barcelona have caused vestiges of various periods of the city’s history to emerge on the surface during the last few months. Among the most outstanding finds are those that have taken place as a result of the reform of the Via Laietana. The intervention in this street revealed in the spring nine Roman and late antique tombs, in addition to elements of various constructions from the medieval period.
