The oldest known leather shoe was discovered in a cave in Armenia, and is approximately 5,500 years old. Known as the Areni-1 shoe, it is an example of early, simplistic footwear, which may have influenced the creation of other types of shoe design in the ancient world. Anthropologists believe that humans started wearing shoes around 40,000 years ago, contributing to anatomical changes in human feet and limbs.
The shoe was found in a remote cave in Armenia in 2008, exсаⱱаted as part of a project led by archaeologists from the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia. The team was exploring a cave known as Areni-1, in the Vayots Dzor region, which contained a number of Neolithic and Copper Age remains.
The Areni-1 shoe was made from a single piece of tanned leather from the hide of a cow, seamed at the front and the back, and tied together with leather cords. The leather was probably wrapped around the foot before stitching to ensure a tіɡһt fit. It corresponds to a size 7 (US) in modern footwear and could have been worn by either a man or a woman.
The shoe was carbon-dated to around 3,500 BC, making it the oldest footwear of its kind ever to be discovered. The shoe showed considerable signs of wear and tear, suggesting that the wearer habitually walked long distances. The shoe closely resembles other ancient shoes discovered in the Middle East and North Africa and even draws a comparison with traditional clothing from the Balkans and North Africa.
The Areni-1 shoe provides an important and extremely rare insight into the clothing and footwear worn by the Copper Age inhabitants of Armenia. Today, it is on display in the History Museum of Armenia in Yerevan.
Source: archeologynews.com
