It might not look as glamorous as the heels we’ve come to know and love but back in the day, at the dawn of civilization, this shoe would have been the Manolo Blahnik of its time.
Of course, that’s where the similarities end. The shoe (a woman’s size 6) made from a single piece of cured cowhide was found in a cave in Armenia, stuffed with grass and covered in sheep dung. While shoe lovers might not be enamored with it, archaeologists are thrilled, as it’s believed to be the oldest leather shoe to have been discovered in the world.
Dr. Ron Pinhasi, an archaeologist at the University College Cork involved with the project couldn’t believe it when tests revealed the shoe was 5,500 years old. “It is an amazing find,” he said according to Britain’s Daily Telegraph. “We thought we were looking at something just a few hundred years old but it turns out to be oldest shoe ever found.”
Luckily, the floor of the cave in Vayotz Dzor, on the Turkey/Iran border was covered by a thick layer of dung, acting as a protective seal over the shoes, keeping them wonderfully intact despite their age. Combined with the cool, dry conditions of the cave, the shoe is almost in perfect condition. Diana Zardaryan, of the Institute of Archaeology, Armenia, who made the discovery said: “I was amazed to find that even the shoelaces were preserved.”
According to CNN, Pinhasi intends to preserve the shoe further to get it back to its original softness and then display it at a museum in Armenia. He’s also on the hunt for the matching shoe or similar discoveries in a nearby cave. “We want to see if it’s unique,” he said.
It looks pretty one-of-a-kind to us!
Photo via Metro.