Marta Kissne Bendefy (Senior Conservator, Hungarian National Museum, National Centre of Conservation and Conservation Training)

Leather is a very sensitive organic material, its chemical structure breaks down easily under subsoil circumstances. Its remains are sometimes discarded unless they are relatively large and can be recognised easily. The characteristic shape of soles may help us to identify them as part of footwear but the importance of what seams to be meaningless offcuts is just rarely recognised. 

Leather conservators having the knowledge of the manufacture technology of footwear or other objects made in certain historical age may interpret the signs of the cut,  the seams, the decoration, the repair and many other details on the finds. They have an important role also in saving that signs by using the proper cleaning and conservation treatment taylored to the condition of the leather.