How old was the 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 said 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. In 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 woman’s size seven in the United States.