World's oldest shoe found in Armenian cave

World's oldest shoe found in Armenian cave

 

This undated handout photo provided by the Department of Archaeology University College Cork, Cork Ireland, shows a well preserved and complete shoe was recovered at the base of a Chalcolithic pit in the cave in Armenia. AP

Archaeologists have found the world's oldest shoe dating back to 5,500 years in an Armenian cave. The shoe made from a single piece of cowhide can fit a woman's foot although it may have been worn by a man at the time, the researchers said.

The 5,500-year-old shoe was discovered by a team of international archaeologists, who reported details of their finding Wednesday. It is made of a single piece of cow-hide leather, had laces, and was shaped to fit the wearer's foot.

It is 24.5 cm long, 7.6 cm to 10 cm wide, and dates back to around 3,500 BC, an era known as the Chalcolithic period.

"It is not known whether the shoe belonged to a man or woman," said Ron Pinhasi of University College Cork in Ireland, who led the research team. He said while it was small, matching a modern-day European size 37 or U.S. size 7, the shoe "could well have fitted a man from that era."

What is thought to be the world's oldest shoe, a preserved 5,500 year old cowhide piece of footwear that was discovered in a cave in Armenia, is seen in a photo released after its discovery by an archaeology team from University College Cork. REUTERS

The cave where the discovery was made is in the Vayotz Dzor province of Armenia, on the Armenian-Iranian-Turkish borders.

Pinhasi said the stable, cool and dry conditions in the cave meant the various objects found there were very well preserved.

Other finds included large ceramic containers, many of which held wheat, barley, apricots and other edible plants.

The team said preservation was also helped by the fact that the floor of the cave was covered by a thick layer of sheep dung which acted as a solid seal over the objects, keeping them safe for several millennia.

The shoe was found in 2008 by Armenian PhD student Diana Zardaryan of the country's Institute of Archaeology, in a pit that also included a broken pot and sheep's horns.

The entrance to an Armenian cave, marked with blue plastic, is seen where what is thought to be the world's oldest shoe was found, in a photo released by an archaeology team from University College Cork. REUTERS

"I was amazed to find that even the shoe-laces were preserved," she said in the report of the find, which was published in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS One.

Scientists in radiocarbon laboratories in California and in Oxford, England, have been working since 2008 to try to put an accurate date on the shoe.

The oldest known footwear in the world are sandals thought to be around 2,500 years older than the Armenian leather shoe. They were found in a cave in Missouri in the United States.

"It is an amazing find. We thought we were looking at something just a few hundred years old but it turns out to be the oldest shoe ever found," Ron Pinhasi, an archaeologist at the University College Cork, was quoted as saying by The Telegraph.

University College Cork archaeologist Ron Pinhasi photographs an area of a dig in the Armenian cave where what is believed to be the world's oldest shoe, a preserved 5,500 year old cowhide piece of footwear, was found in a photo released. REUTERS

The shoe was packed with grass and it is unclear whether it was used to keep the foot warm or to maintain the shape of the shoe, much like the modern shoe-tree.

Dr Pinhasi, said: "It was only when the material was dated by the two radiocarbon laboratories in Oxford and California that we realised that the shoe was older by a few hundred years than the shoes worn by Otzi, the Iceman".

Otzi lived about 5,300 years ago and his mummified remains were found in 1991 in the Otztal Alps, on the border between Austria and Italy.

What is thought to be the world's oldest shoe, a preserved 5,500 year old cowhide piece of footwear that was discovered in a cave in Armenia, is seen in a photo released after its discovery by an archaeology team from University College Cork. REUTERS

Other items found in the cave in the Vayotz Dzor province on the Iranian border included large containers, many of which held well-preserved wheat and barley, apricots and other edible plants.

Diana Zardaryan, of the Institute of Archaeology, Armenia, who made the discovery in a pit that also included a broken pot and sheep's horns, said: "I was amazed to find that even the shoelaces were preserved".

The oldest known footwear in the world are 8,000-year-old makeshift sandals made of plant material that were found in a cave in Missouri about fifty years ago.