What may be the oldest pair of shoes in Europe have been found in a cave in Spain and are now thought to be older than scientists previously thought.
Some 20 pairs of sandals are at least 6,200 years old – and possibly older – while other woven objects in the cave date back to 9,500 years, according to a new study by scientists.
The shoe measures around 20.5cm — or a little over 8 inches.
The news comes after scientists used carbon dating on 76 objects from the Cueva de los Murciélagos, Albuñol, near Granada, which were excavated by miners in the 19th century.
Among the objects is a basket that represents the first direct evidence of skill in Mesolithic hunter-gatherer societies in Southern Europe.
The objects, made of wood, bamboo and esparto grass, date to the early and middle Holocene, between 9,500 and 6,200 years ago, scientists said.
A study on the findings from the Universidad de Alcalá (UAH) and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) has been published in the journal Science Advances.
Said Francisco Martínez Sevilla, a researcher at UAH’s Department of Prehistory, “This is the earliest and most extensive collection of prehistoric shoes, both in the Iberian Peninsula and in Europe, unmatched in other latitudes,” as SWNS, the British news service, reported.
About 20 pairs of sandals are at least 6,200 years old and may be older than other woven objects in the cave dating back 9,500 years. MUTERMUR / SWNS Project Baskets represent the first direct evidence of skills in Mesolithic hunter-gatherer societies in Southern Europe .MUTERMUR / SWNS Project
“The new dating of esparto baskets from the Cueva de los Murciélagos of Albuñol opens up an opportunity to understand the last hunter-gatherer societies of the early Holocene.”
He added, “The quality and complexity of basketry technology makes us question the simple assumptions we have about human communities before the arrival of agriculture in Southern Europe.”
He said the work and projects being developed “[place] Cueva de los Murciélagos as a unique site in Europe to study the organic matter of prehistoric populations.”
Cueva de los Murciélagos, or “Bat Cave,” is located on the coast of Granada, south of the Sierra Nevada.
It is believed that the find is well preserved, as a result of the low humidity level in the area.
The interior of the Cueva de los Murciélagos de Albuñol or “Cave of the Bats,” located on the coast of Granada, in the southern Sierra Nevada. Blas Ramos RodrÃguez / SWNS
The bat cave opens on the right side of the Barranco de las Angosturas, at an altitude of 450 meters above sea level and about seven kilometers from the current coastline.
It is one of the most emblematic prehistoric archaeological sites in the Iberian Peninsula due to the rare preservation of organic matter, SWNS also said.
Study co-author María Herrero Otal said, “The esparto grass objects from the Cueva de los Murciélagos are the oldest and best-preserved set of plant fiber materials in Southern Europe to date,” as SWNS noted.
“The variety of technology and treatment of raw materials documented shows the ability of prehistoric societies to master this type of craftsmanship, at least as far back as 9,500 years ago, in the Mesolithic period.”
He added, “Only one type of technique related to hunter-gatherers has been identified, while the range of typology, technology and treatment of esparto grass has expanded during the Neolithic from 7,200 to 6,200 years before the present.”
Artistic recreation of the use of Mesolithic baskets by a group of hunter-gatherers in the Cueva de los Murciélagos de Albuñol. SWNS
He also said, “The variety of technology and treatment of raw materials documented highlights the skills of prehistoric societies,” as reported by the BBC about the findings of the study.
A 5,500-year-old pair of leather shoes was found in a cave in Armenia in 2008, while Britain’s oldest shoe is said to be a 3,000-year-old Late Bronze Age child’s shoe in north Kent.
However, the oldest shoe in the world dating back to about 10,000 years was found in Fort Rock, Oregon, in 1938.
Fort Rock Sandal, as it is known to researchers, is housed in the Museum of Natural and Cultural History at the University of Oregon in Eugene, according to the Bend Bulletin. They are made from sagebrush bark and other fibers.
The Fort Rock sandals were found under a layer of volcanic ash originating from the eruption of Mount Mazama 7,700 years ago, the same source indicated.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
