Sandals buried in a bat cave in southern Spain may be the oldest footwear ever discovered in Europe, scientists said this week, estimating that they could be up to 6,200 years old. The study used radiocarbon dating to date 76 items, including baskets and 22 sandals made from esparto, a kind of grass used in crafts across the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa for thousands of years. The ancient humans crushed the grass to make twine to braid baskets, bags and sandals. Get Connecticut local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Similar sandals found in Armenia are estimated to be 5,500 years old, while the shoes worn by “Ötzi the Iceman” — a prehistoric man found in Italy in 1991 — are dated to 5,300 years ago.

Source: The North Africa Journal September 29, 2023 17:38 UTC