These 6,000-year-old sandals found in a Spanish cave are Europe’s oldest shoes

CNN — New analysis has identified the oldest shoes ever discovered in Europe, according to a study published this week in the journal Science Advances. The 22 woven sandals date from 6,000 years ago, radiocarbon analysis found in the study led by researchers at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and Alcalá University in Spain. The very dry conditions within the cave were ideal for preserving perishable materials, the researchers said, and allowed the preservation of a prehistoric burial site complete with partially mummified corpses, accompanied by baskets, wooden tools, sandals and other goods. Adv The objects are “the oldest and best-preserved set of plant fiber materials in southern Europe so far known,” María Herrero Otal, one of the study’s authors, said in a statement, adding that they demonstrate “the ability of prehistoric communities to master this type of craftsmanship.” When Spanish archaeologist Manuel de Góngora y Martínez visited the cave in 1867, 10 years after the looting, he gathered the remaining artifacts, including the sandals, and gave them to museums in Madrid and Granada, where they have been studied by researchers, the study added. “The quality and technological complexity of the basketry makes us question the simplistic assumptions we have about human communities prior to the arrival of agriculture in southern Europe,” Francisco Martínez Sevilla, one of the study’s authors, said in a statement.