Editing Shoe (section)

=== Antiquity ===

[[File:Chalcolithic leather shoe from Areni-1 cave.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Areni-1 shoe|oldest known leather shoe]], about 5500 years old, found in [[Armenia]] ]]
[[File:Sandalias de esparto (29139609730).jpg|thumb|[[Esparto]] sandals from the [[6th millennium BC|6th]] or [[5th millennium BC]] found in [[Spain]] ]]
[[File:Romanwallinscotl00macduoft raw 0263.png|thumb|right|Roman shoes: a man's,<ref>{{cite web|title=The Scottish Ten|url=https://www.engineshed.org/about-us/the-scottish-ten/sites/antonine-wall-scotland/|website=The Engine Shed|publisher=Centre for Digital Documentation and Visualisation LLP|access-date=14 October 2017}}</ref> a woman's<ref>{{cite web|title=Lady's Shoe, Bar Hill|url=https://vimeo.com/140404027|access-date=24 May 2018|date=2015-09-25}}</ref> and a child's<ref>{{cite web|title=Child's Shoe, Bar Hill|url=https://vimeo.com/140054166|access-date=24 May 2018|date=2015-09-22}}</ref> shoe from [[Bar Hill Fort|Bar Hill Roman Fort]], Scotland.]]

====Earliest evidence====
The earliest known shoes are sagebrush bark [[sandal]]s dating from approximately 7000 or 8000 BC, found in the [[Fort Rock Cave]] in the [[United States|US]] state of [[Oregon]] in 1938.<ref name="Connolly_Tom">{{cite web|last=Connolly|first=Tom|title=The World's Oldest Shoes|url=http://pages.uoregon.edu/connolly/FRsandals.htm|publisher=[[University of Oregon]]|access-date=July 22, 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722013744/http://pages.uoregon.edu/connolly/FRsandals.htm|archive-date=July 22, 2012}}</ref> The world's [[Areni-1 shoe|oldest leather shoe]], made from a single piece of cowhide laced with a leather cord along seams at the front and back, was found in the [[Areni-1 cave complex]] in [[Armenia]] in 2008 and is believed to date to 3500 BC.<ref name="Ravilious_Kate">{{cite news|last=Ravilious|first=Kate|title=World's Oldest Leather Shoe Found—Stunningly Preserved|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/06/100609-worlds-oldest-leather-shoe-armenia-science/|access-date=July 22, 2012|newspaper=[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]]|date=June 9, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120724020516/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/06/100609-worlds-oldest-leather-shoe-armenia-science/|archive-date=July 24, 2012}}</ref><ref name="Petraglia_Michael">{{cite journal|last1=Petraglia|first1=Michael D.|author2=Pinhasi R|author3=Gasparian B|author4=Areshian G|author5=Zardaryan D|author6=Smith A|title=First Direct Evidence of Chalcolithic Footwear from the Near Eastern Highlands|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=5|pages=e10984|year=2010|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0010984|editor1-last=Petraglia|editor1-first=Michael D.|issue=6|pmid=20543959|pmc=2882957|display-authors=etal|bibcode=2010PLoSO...510984P|doi-access=free}} Reported in (among others) {{cite news|last=Belluck|first=Pam|title=This Shoe Had Prada Beat by 5,500 Years|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/10/science/10shoe.html|access-date=11 June 2010|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=9 June 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100611103130/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/10/science/10shoe.html|archive-date=11 June 2010}}</ref> [[Ötzi the Iceman]]'s shoes, dating to 3300 BC, featured brown bearskin bases, deerskin side panels, and a bark-string net, which pulled tight around the foot.<ref name="Ravilious_Kate" /> The [[Jotunheimen shoe]] was discovered in August 2006: archaeologists estimate that this leather shoe was made between 1800 and 1100 BC,<ref name="Nesje Pilø Finstad Solli ">{{cite journal | last1=Nesje | first1=Atle | last2=Pilø | first2=Lars Holger | last3=Finstad | first3=Espen | last4=Solli | first4=Brit | last5=Wangen | first5=Vivian | last6=Ødegård | first6=Rune Strand | last7=Isaksen | first7=Ketil | last8=Støren | first8=Eivind N. | last9=Bakke | first9=Dag Inge | last10=Andreassen | first10=Liss M | title=The climatic significance of artefacts related to prehistoric reindeer hunting exposed at melting ice patches in southern Norway | journal=The Holocene |  volume=22 | issue=4 | date=2011 | issn=0959-6836 | doi=10.1177/0959683611425552 | pages=485–496| s2cid=129845949 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.norwaypost.no/index.php/culture/13871 "Old Shoe- Even Older".] ''The Norway Post'', 2 May 2007. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308201631/http://norwaypost.no/index.php/culture/13871 |date=8 March 2016 }}</ref> making it the oldest article of clothing discovered in Scandinavia. Sandals and other plant fiber based tools were found in [[Cueva de los Murciélagos]] in [[Albuñol]] in southern Spain in 2023, dating to approximately 7500 to 4200 BC, making them what are believed to be the oldest shoes found in Europe.<ref name="Science Advances">{{cite journal|title=The earliest basketry in southern Europe: Hunter-gatherer and farmer plant-based technology in Cueva de los Murciélagos (Albuñol)|journal=Science Advances|volume=9|issue=39|doi=10.1126/sciadv.adi3055|date=27 Sep 2023|author=Francisco Martínez-Sevilla|pages=eadi3055 |pmid=37756397 |pmc=10530072 |bibcode=2023SciA....9I3055M |display-authors=etal|doi-access=free}}</ref>

It is thought that shoes may have been used long before this, but because the materials used were highly perishable, it is difficult to find evidence of the earliest footwear.<ref name="Johnson_Olivia">{{cite news|last=Johnson|first=Olivia|title=Bones Reveal First Shoe-Wearers|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4173838.stm|access-date=July 23, 2012|newspaper=[[BBC News]]|date=August 24, 2005|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120603011525/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4173838.stm|archive-date=June 3, 2012}}</ref>

[[Footprints]] suggestive of shoes or sandals due to having crisp edges, no signs of toes found and three&nbsp;small divots where leather tying laces/straps would have been attached have been at [[Garden Route National Park]],  [[Addo Elephant National Park]] and [[Goukamma Marine Protected Area|Goukamma Nature Reserve]] in [[South Africa]].<ref name="Helm Lockley Cawthra De Vynck ">{{cite journal | last1=Helm | first1=Charles W. | last2=Lockley | first2=Martin G. | last3=Cawthra | first3=Hayley C. | last4=De Vynck | first4=Jan C. | last5=Dixon | first5=Mark G. | last6=Rust | first6=Renée | last7=Stear | first7=Willo | last8=Van Tonder | first8=Monique | last9=Zipfel | first9=Bernhard | title=Possible shod-hominin tracks on South Africa's Cape coast | journal=Ichnos | date=2023| volume=30 | issue=2 | issn=1042-0940 | doi=10.1080/10420940.2023.2249585 | pages=79–97| bibcode=2023Ichno..30...79H | s2cid=261313433 }}</ref> These date back to between 73,000 and 136,000 BP. Consistent with the existence of such shoe  is the finding of [[Bone tool|bone awls]] dating back to this period that could have made simple footwear.<ref name="Helm Lockley Cawthra De Vynck " />

Another source of evidence is the study of the bones of the smaller toes (as opposed to the big toe); it was observed that their thickness decreased approximately 40,000 to 26,000 years ago. This led [[archaeologist]]s to deduce the existence of common rather than an occasional wearing of shoes as this would lead to less bone growth, resulting in shorter, thinner toes.<ref name="Trinkaus_Erik">{{cite journal|author1=Trinkaus, E. |author2=Shang, H. |title=Anatomical Evidence for the Antiquity of Human Footwear: Tianyuan and Sunghir|journal=Journal of Archaeological Science|date=July 2008|volume=35|issue=7|pages=1928–1933|doi=10.1016/j.jas.2007.12.002|bibcode=2008JArSc..35.1928T }}</ref> These earliest designs were very simple, often mere "foot bags" of leather to protect the feet from rocks, debris, and cold.

==== Americas ====
Many early natives in North America wore a similar type of footwear, known as the [[moccasin]]. These are tight-fitting, soft-soled shoes typically made out of leather or [[bison]] hides. Many moccasins were also decorated with various beads and other adornments. Moccasins were not designed to be waterproof, and in wet weather and warm summer months, most [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]] went [[barefoot]].<ref name="Laubin_Laubin_Vestal">{{cite book|author1=Laubin, Reginald|author2=Laubin, Gladys|author3=Vestal, Stanley|title=The Indian Tipi: Its History, Construction, and Use|year=1977|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|location=[[Norman, Oklahoma]]|isbn=978-0-8061-2236-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=koVdBGjlz8gC&pg=PA101|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180427210304/https://books.google.com/books?id=koVdBGjlz8gC&pg=PA101|archive-date=2018-04-27}}</ref> The leaves of the [[sisal]] plant were used to make [[twine]] for sandals in South America while the natives of Mexico used the [[Yucca]] plant.<ref name="Curtin_Cameron">{{cite book |last=Kippen |first=Cameron |title=The History of Footwear |publisher=Department of Podiatry, Curtin University of Technology |year=1999 |location=[[Perth]], [[Australia]]}}</ref><ref name="DeMello_Margo">{{cite book |last=DeMello |first=Margo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5QdKSxajwP0C&pg=PA131 |title=Feet and Footwear: A Cultural Encyclopedia |publisher=ABC-CLIO, LLC |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-313-35714-5 |location=[[Santa Barbara, California]] |pages=20–24, 90, 108, 130–131, 226–230}}</ref>

==== Africa and Middle East ====
As civilizations began to develop, thong sandals (precursors to the modern [[flip-flops|flip-flop]]) were worn. This practice dates back to pictures of them in [[ancient Egypt]]ian murals from 4000 BC. "Thebet" may have been the term used to describe these sandals in Egyptian times, possibly from the city [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]]. The [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt|Middle Kingdom]] is when the first of these thebets were found, but it is possible that it debuted in the [[Early Dynastic Period (Egypt)|Early Dynastic Period]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Egypt: The Birthplace of Flip Flops? – The Sheridan Libraries & University Museums Blog |date=21 July 2017 |url=https://blogs.library.jhu.edu/2017/07/ancient-egypt-the-birthplace-of-flip-flops/ |access-date=2022-05-20 |language=en-US}}</ref> One pair found in Europe was made of [[papyrus]] leaves and [[Carbon dating|dated]] to be approximately 1,500 years old. They were also worn in [[Jerusalem]] during the first century of the Christian era.<ref name="Kendzior_Russell">{{cite book|last=Kendzior|first=Russell J.|title=Falls Aren't Funny: America's Multi-Billion-Dollar Slip-and-Fall Crisis|publisher=www.govtinstpress.com/ Government Institutes|location=[[Lanham, Maryland]]|isbn=978-0-86587-016-1|page=117|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2TzSKEvGDIoC&pg=PA117|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170319011755/https://books.google.com/books?id=2TzSKEvGDIoC&pg=PA117|archive-date=2017-03-19|year=2010}}</ref> Thong sandals were worn by many civilizations and made from a vast variety of materials. Ancient Egyptian sandals were made from papyrus and palm leaves. The [[Maasai people|Masai]] of Africa made them out of [[rawhide (textile)|rawhide]]. In India they were made from wood.

While thong sandals were commonly worn, many people in ancient times, such as the [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptians]], [[Hindus]] and [[Ancient Greece|Greeks]], saw little need for footwear, and most of the time, preferred being barefoot.<ref name="Frazine_Richard" /> The Egyptians and Hindus made some use of ornamental footwear, such as a soleless sandal known as a "Cleopatra",{{citation needed|date=January 2018}} which did not provide any practical protection for the foot.

==== Asia and Europe ====
The ancient Greeks largely viewed footwear as self-indulgent, unaesthetic and unnecessary. Shoes were primarily worn in the theater, as a means of increasing stature, and many preferred to go barefoot.<ref name="Frazine_Richard">{{cite book|last=Frazine|first=Richard Keith|title=The Barefoot Hiker|year=1993|publisher=Ten Speed Press|isbn=978-0-89815-525-9|page=98|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=edsITVCd2G0C&q=barefoot+hiker}}</ref> Athletes in the [[Ancient Olympic Games]] participated barefoot—and naked.<ref name="ancient_olympics">{{cite news|title=Unearthing the First Olympics|url=https://www.npr.org/programs/re/archivesdate/2004/jul/nemea/|access-date=July 1, 2010|newspaper=[[NPR]]|date=July 19, 2004|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100728000414/http://www.npr.org/programs/re/archivesdate/2004/jul/nemea/|archive-date=July 28, 2010|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Even the [[Twelve Olympians|gods]] and heroes were primarily depicted barefoot, as well as the [[hoplite]] warriors. They fought battles in bare feet and [[Alexander the Great]] conquered his vast empire with barefoot armies. The runners of [[Ancient Greece]] had also been believed to have run barefoot.<ref name="Krentz_Peter">{{cite book|last=Krentz|first=Peter|title=The Battle of Marathon|year=2010|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven and London|isbn=978-0-300-12085-1|pages=112–113|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ncT8JFn-ed8C&pg=PT112|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180427210304/https://books.google.com/books?id=ncT8JFn-ed8C&pg=PT112|archive-date=2018-04-27}}</ref>

[[File:6 Schoen inheemse soldaat LegioIIAugusta BlackBox endeLimes fotoAvdOord.jpg|thumb|Footwear of Roman soldiers (reconstruction)]]

The [[Ancient Rome|Romans]], who eventually conquered the Greeks and adopted many aspects of their culture, did not adopt the Greek perception of footwear and clothing. [[Clothing in ancient Rome|Roman clothing]] was seen as a sign of power, and footwear was seen as a necessity of living in a civilized world, although the slaves and paupers usually went barefoot.<ref name="Frazine_Richard" /> Roman soldiers were issued with [[chiral]] (left and right shoe different) footwear.<ref>'Greece and Rome at War' by Peter Connolly</ref> Shoes for soldiers had riveted insoles to extend the life of the leather, increase comfort, and provide better traction. The design of these shoes also designated the rank of the officers. The more intricate the insignia and the higher up the boot went on the leg, the higher the rank of the soldier.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Swann |first1=June |title=History of Footwear in Norway, Sweden and Finland: Prehistory to 1950 |date=2001|isbn=9789174023237|publisher=Kungl. Vitterhets, historie och antikvitets akademien}}</ref> There are references to shoes being worn in the [[Bible]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Genesis 14:23, Deuteronomy 25:9, Ruth 4:7-8, Luke 15:22}}</ref> In China and Japan, rice straws were used.{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}

Starting around 4 BC, the Greeks began wearing symbolic footwear. These were heavily decorated to clearly indicate the status of the wearer. Courtesans wore leather shoes colored with white, green, lemon or yellow dyes, and young woman betrothed or newly married wore pure white shoes. Because of the cost to lighten leather, shoes of a paler shade were a symbol of wealth in the upper class. Often, the soles would be carved with a message so it would imprint on the ground. Cobblers became a notable profession around this time, with Greek shoemakers becoming famed in the Roman empire.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ledger |first1=Florence |title=Put Your Foot Down: A Treatise on the History of Shoes |date=1985|isbn=9780854751112 |publisher=C. Venton}}</ref>