World's Oldest Leather Shoe Discovered in Armenia
A 5,500-year-old leather shoe has been found in a cave in Armenia. The shoe – 1,000 years older than Giza's Great Pyramid and 400 years older than Stonehenge – is perfectly preserved and was found complete with shoelaces. It is believed to be the oldest example of enclosed leather footwear, out-dating the shoes worn by Otzi the Iceman by a few hundred years.
The shoe is sole-less, made out of a single piece of cow hide and was shaped to the wearer's right foot. It contained grass, which might have served to either keep the foot warm or to maintain the shape of the shoe. It is not known whether the shoe – 24.5cm long and a European size 37 – belonged to a man or a woman, though it would have been ideal for a male of that era.
The shoe is similar to the 'pampootsies' worn until the 1950s on Ireland’s Aran Islands. “In fact, enormous similarities exist between manufacturing technique and style of this shoe and those found across Europe at later periods, suggesting that this type of shoe was worn for thousands of years across a large and environmentally diverse geographic region,” said Dr Ron Pinhasi of Cork University.
We couldn't believe the discovery. The crusts had sealed the artefacts and archaeological deposits and artefacts remained fresh dried, just like they were put in a can.
Such a well-preserved artifact from a Middle Eastern archaeological site is considered an amazing find because organic materials usually deteriorate due to the high content of salts and fungi in the soil, as well as fluctuations in temperature and humidity.
The discovery was made in Vayotz Dzor province on Armenia’s border with Iran and Turkey by Diana Zardaryan of Armenia’s Institute of Archaeology. “I was amazed to find that even the shoelaces were preserved,” she said.
The stable, cool and dry conditions in the Areni-1 cave resulted in the exceptional preservation of the shoe and other objects. Other finds included large containers, many of which held well-preserved wheat, barley, apricots and other edible foodstuffs.
Click the images to see them in large size
A thick layer of sheep dung covered the floor of the cave, sealing the artefacts and archaeological deposits and further assisting preservation. Other discoveries included a broken pot, fishbones and sheep's horns.
“We couldn't believe the discovery,” said the dig's co-director Gregory Areshian, part of an international team of archaeologists working at the site. “The crusts had sealed the artefacts and archaeological deposits and artefacts remained fresh dried, just like they were put in a can.”
Both the shoe and the grass samples were shown to be the same age, and dated to the Chalcolithic period, about 3500BC.
While the Armenian discovery is believed to be the oldest recorded example of a leather shoe – and the oldest Eurasian shoe – it is not the oldest known footwear. Predating the shoe by as many as 2,000 years are a moccasin made of plant material and a pair of leather sandals discovered in the 1970s in a cave in Missouri.
Leather sandals of a similar age to the Areni-1 shoe were found in a cave in Israel’s Judean Desert but these were never directly dated. Rather, their age is based on various other associated artefacts found in the Cave of the Warriors.
The archaeologists have not yet identified the purpose of the cave. "We know that there are children's graves at the back of the cave but so little is known about this period that we cannot say with any certainty why all these different objects were found together," said Dr Pinhasi. The international team will continue to excavate the many chambers of the cave.
The same team last year announced the find of the 'world's oldest human brain' at the Areni-1 site, a 9 by 7 centimetres brain fragment, possible evidence of ceremonial cannibalism as well as a large number of vessels and grapevine shoots (possibly the 'world's oldest commercial winery').
Further details on the study of the Areni-1 shoe are published in the online scientific journal PloS ONE as “First Direct Evidence of Chalcolithic Footwear from the Near Eastern Highlands”.
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Excellent report...looking forward to hearing more as the site is further excavated and analyzed.
Yep, although I must admit, the human remains found (which they mentioned last year) are far more fascinating than a shoe. (I am curious though, who invented the first 'boot'. As in under knee, leather and pretty black, with a little bit of heel, but not to much, so it stays 'walkable' and steady enough to go on the tube. :D) Do admit that "Next to one of the three skulls, the team also found four adult femoral shafts, rather evenly roasted from all sided. "This may have been a case of ceremonial cannibalism, but it still needs to be proved," said Gasparian." sounds better than shoes? Sadly, no 'new news' on ceremonial dining habits.
We could see the transition from these one piece leather shoes to the stylish and fashionable ones that we use today! Such a wonder how people managed to conceive theses shoes!
I'd assume the actual oldest shoe dates to the discovery of the process to make leather or about 7000BCE. What else would you first use a tough thick material for ?
It is my pleasure to read this wonderful information. That shoes is so memorable that it reached its 5,500 years. Great!
It great to see such an old shoe being discovered and that too a 5500 year old one! as soon as i read the article i was just looking at my mephisto shoes and thinking this has an ancestor origin of 5000 years. hmm how far we have developed it!
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This is what I have seen one of the greatest miracle, China is a history of more than 5,000 of ancient civilizations, this article I like it very much.
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I thought Neanderthals wore shoes too and they were a lot older, thought they found remains of that too.
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5500 years makes it one very old pair of shoes but you would have to assume that 100,000 years ago
there must of been women out there with some sort of shoes on. Based on evolution that would make sense in fact they most likely had more than one pair!:)
Thank you for sharing this wonderful information. 5,500 years ago, amazing.
Hi all... man some girl would of been v upset a few thousand years ago.. thats a PRE-PRADA shoe! Leather sandals of a similar age to the Areni-1 shoe were found in a cave in Israel’s Judean Desert but these were never directly dated. Rather, their age is based on various other associated artefacts found in the Cave of the Warriors.
The Areni-1 shoe is amzing. The fact that they used leather so long ago is so interesting. I wonder what the collection agency video of the dig looked like.
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Lol, these look just like my rather worn jazz shoes- must have been the original shoe design!
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Wow, good old sheep dung eh? There must have been alot of it to provide such a good cover for these objects for so many years.
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Love all this excavation work- would really like to visit the site and volunteer my services. Extraordinary.
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I love the term ' pampootsies' Surely that must be a great new brand for some shoe manufacturer- sounds better than Crocs!.
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What an interesting article- will read up on this further. Curious that childrens graves were found at the back of the cave but research indicates that there may have been cannabalism going on inside there too.
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Wow, that is truly amazing – to think that leather shoes exist more than 5,500 years ago. Medical Scales
That is weird that the oldest shoe are found in america. I half thought that someone was going to say they found the oldest pair of leather shoes and they turned out to be toning shoes LOL
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<p>Dirt and other debris can easily embed into leather. Therefore, your leather shoes or boots need to be cleaned before you start polishing. Is it really true that the shoes discovered can stay for as long as 5, 500 years?</p>
<p>In the country of Mt. Ararat, where the Bible says Noah’s Ark rested when the Great Flood subsided, there now is news of the discovery of the world’s oldest leather shoe......LOL... That's Noah shoes...cool!</p>
<p>I don't know how armenis discoer this sort of things. really don't know.</p>
<p>No doubt Armenian are all very proud about this discovery.</p>
<p> If b<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(235, 239, 242); ">oth of the shoe and the grass samples were shown to be the same age, and dated to the Chalcolithic period, about 3500BC, but that's quite impossible. A leather shoe can maybe preserve for a long period of time, but not a grass.</span></p>
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It is quite staggering how that shoe managed to survive for so long in that condition. I love seeing glimpses into the past like that, very nice
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<p> Armenia's court was about to be abandoned and hat is what i thought initially when i heard about armenia.</p>
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