Know about the oldest-known leather shoe, the Areni-1 shoe about 3,500 years, discovered in Areni-1 cave in southern Armenia
The oldest-known leather shoe, dated about 3,500 bce, found in southern Armenia; film 2010.
University College Cork, Ireland (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
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Transcript
DR. RON PINHASI: I'm Ron Pinhasi. I'm a lecturer in Prehistoric Archeology at the University College Cork, and lead author on a paper, "N Plus 1", about the Areni-1 shoe. The shoe was found in southern Armenia, which is at the border between Turkey-- eastern Turkey-- next to Mount Ararat and Iran. Now it is Iran. And it was since pre-history a crossroad for trade and the like.
It's a more arid region of Armenia, which in a sense, is at the eastern end of the Middle East. The shoe was found in a large cave, Areni-1 cave, which has several chambers. And the front of the cave, which has a terrace-- it's the largest part-- has various dwellings. Some of them-- we excavated different layers-- and one of the dwellings was a pit. And the shoe was found inside the bottom of the pit.
The shoe is a one piece, cowhide shoe. It's made out of one piece of leather. And it's been stitched, cut to the correct size, and been stitched together by a professional, and stitched at the front with leather laces. And also there's leather lacing at the back of the shoe.
We found out the size. And it's European size 37. And therefore, in a modern-- we compared it to a modern Turkey sample, because this is the only sample we could find in the literature. And that would fit right into a female size, and out of range for the males. It's too small for a male.
However, we have no idea in prehistory about the size-- the exact size-- of people's feet. And therefore, it could have been a male. It could also have been an adolescent.
And it was a processed leather-- tanned leather-- that was then cut according to a specific pattern, and then stitched together by leather lace. So in order to see exactly how a replica is made, we're now going to Princes Street in Cork to a cobbler, and see how we can make one of these shoes.
First, we thought it was used to pad it. But then at the same time, the straw looked quite fresh, like in terms of the--
COBBLER: It hasn't been worn.
PINHASI: --stalks were in different directions. It didn't look all packed.
COBBLER: Yeah, quite interesting.
PINHASI: So we were wondering whether the straw is used to keep the shape, maybe?
COBBLER: With the shoe, yeah.
PINHASI: Or keep it warm-- the interesting thing is that the only equivalent we have is from the Alps. The Ice Man shoe is totally different.
COBBLER: Here the shoe was elevated?
PINHASI: Yeah, but it was more like he had something like a moccasins at the bottom. The top, it was like a moccasin. And then the top part of the shoe, instead of having the vamp like this one, it had some kind of a weaved--
COBBLER: A pattern?
PINHASI: No. It was a weaved made from some kind of plant. So it was like a basket-like.
This cave is special in Armenia, in particular, because it's a crossroad between Africa, Asia, and Europe. It always has been a corridor for human migrations. Some people at the same time see it as a cul-de-sac in some periods.
And what is interesting is the fact that it played a central role in human evolution. But also, in later periods, it's at the edge of the Middle East. And therefore, the location now of the cave, at the border between Turkey and Armenia and Iran, is representing the fact that more than likely, in the period-- the Chalcolithic period-- it was already a major crossroad, a major station perhaps, a trading post, or perhaps a place of strategic importance in the routes between different civilizations.
All of Armenia is very rich in archeology for any period, from prehistory to early Christianity, and the like. At the same time, Armenia is not really excavated as much as other regions. And therefore, there's a lot of unknown and mysterious elements to it. And we, in a sense, were the first to discover this kind of find in Armenia.
Only when we came in and we started the test excavation, were we astonished what was just about a meter under the surface.
It's a more arid region of Armenia, which in a sense, is at the eastern end of the Middle East. The shoe was found in a large cave, Areni-1 cave, which has several chambers. And the front of the cave, which has a terrace-- it's the largest part-- has various dwellings. Some of them-- we excavated different layers-- and one of the dwellings was a pit. And the shoe was found inside the bottom of the pit.
The shoe is a one piece, cowhide shoe. It's made out of one piece of leather. And it's been stitched, cut to the correct size, and been stitched together by a professional, and stitched at the front with leather laces. And also there's leather lacing at the back of the shoe.
We found out the size. And it's European size 37. And therefore, in a modern-- we compared it to a modern Turkey sample, because this is the only sample we could find in the literature. And that would fit right into a female size, and out of range for the males. It's too small for a male.
However, we have no idea in prehistory about the size-- the exact size-- of people's feet. And therefore, it could have been a male. It could also have been an adolescent.
And it was a processed leather-- tanned leather-- that was then cut according to a specific pattern, and then stitched together by leather lace. So in order to see exactly how a replica is made, we're now going to Princes Street in Cork to a cobbler, and see how we can make one of these shoes.
First, we thought it was used to pad it. But then at the same time, the straw looked quite fresh, like in terms of the--
COBBLER: It hasn't been worn.
PINHASI: --stalks were in different directions. It didn't look all packed.
COBBLER: Yeah, quite interesting.
PINHASI: So we were wondering whether the straw is used to keep the shape, maybe?
COBBLER: With the shoe, yeah.
PINHASI: Or keep it warm-- the interesting thing is that the only equivalent we have is from the Alps. The Ice Man shoe is totally different.
COBBLER: Here the shoe was elevated?
PINHASI: Yeah, but it was more like he had something like a moccasins at the bottom. The top, it was like a moccasin. And then the top part of the shoe, instead of having the vamp like this one, it had some kind of a weaved--
COBBLER: A pattern?
PINHASI: No. It was a weaved made from some kind of plant. So it was like a basket-like.
This cave is special in Armenia, in particular, because it's a crossroad between Africa, Asia, and Europe. It always has been a corridor for human migrations. Some people at the same time see it as a cul-de-sac in some periods.
And what is interesting is the fact that it played a central role in human evolution. But also, in later periods, it's at the edge of the Middle East. And therefore, the location now of the cave, at the border between Turkey and Armenia and Iran, is representing the fact that more than likely, in the period-- the Chalcolithic period-- it was already a major crossroad, a major station perhaps, a trading post, or perhaps a place of strategic importance in the routes between different civilizations.
All of Armenia is very rich in archeology for any period, from prehistory to early Christianity, and the like. At the same time, Armenia is not really excavated as much as other regions. And therefore, there's a lot of unknown and mysterious elements to it. And we, in a sense, were the first to discover this kind of find in Armenia.
Only when we came in and we started the test excavation, were we astonished what was just about a meter under the surface.