The Mystery of the World’s Oldest leather Shoe

Nothing  fits  like an old shoe -- especially if  that shoe walked the  earth  five  thousand five hundred  years  ago.  Researchers in  Armenia found  the world's oldest  leather shoe, and they say it  was in  surprisingly good  condition. Doctoral  student   Diana  Zardaryan of the Institute of Archeology  found  it  in a cave near the  border  with  Iran and Turkey. She said "even the shoe laces  were  preserved."It fact, the  team of archeologists  first  thought  it was about six or seven hundred  years  old.  Then two  laboratories in the United States and  Britain did radiocarbon tests. The  dating  showed it  was four  hundred  years older than the  Stonehenge formation in England -- and a thousand  years older  than  the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.The cool and dry  conditions in the cave  protected the shoe and  other  objects.  So did a  thick,  solid  layer of sheep  dung  covering the floor.  This acted as a seal to  prevent damage.   The shoe was made from a single piece of cowhide.  The researchers  believe the  shoe was shaped to fit the wearer’s right foot.  The shoe is small -- a European size thirty-seven, or a women's size seven in the United States. The  lead  author of the  research  says he does  not know  if the  shoe was made for a  man or a woman. Ron Pinhasi of University College in Cork, Ireland, says it could have fit a man from that time period.  His team also  found  grass  packed  inside the shoe. They say the grass  might  have been  used to keep the  wearer’s foot  warm. Or it  could  have been used to hold  the  shape of the shoe while it was not being worn. The shoe is  similar in  design to "pampooties." These  were  shoes worn on the  Aran Islands, in the  west of  Ireland, until the nineteen  fifties. This kind of shoe appears to have been worn for thousands of years across a large area of Europe and beyond.  The team of  scientists also found large containers of wheat, barley and  apricots in the cave, along  with a broken pot and  sheep's horns. They also found the graves of  children  buried near the back of the cave. They do not know why all  these things were found together in one place.  They do not know  what the  purpose of the cave was. The archeologists published their findings in the online scientific journal PloS One, from the Public Library of Science. They are  continuing their work in Armenia. They say there are many other parts of the cave they have yet to  explore. The oldest footwear of any kind ever found are sandals made of plant material. Scientists believe sandals found in the Arnold Research Cave in the  American state of   Missouri are about seven  thousand  five hundred years old. That makes them  about two  thousand  years  older  than the leather shoe found in Armenia.

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