Scientists claim that the sandals found in a cave in Spain likely to be the oldest footwear ever found in Europe

A team of scientists has announced the discovery of sandals buried in a bat cave in southern Spain, which are believed to be the oldest footwear ever found in Europe, with an estimated age of 6,200 years.

In an article published in the Science Advances journal, researchers revealed that the sandals, along with tools and baskets from the 19th century, were unearthed at a hunter-gatherer burial site located in the Cueva de los Murciélagos, also known as the “cave of the bats,” near the southern city of Granada. The study further suggested that the discovered items were older than previously believed.

To determine the age of the items, radiocarbon dating was employed on a total of 76 artifacts, including 22 sandals and baskets crafted from esparto grass, a material that has been used in crafts for millennia across North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula. Ancient humans would crush the grass to create twine for braiding sandals, bags, and other items. The process involved drying the grass for 20 to 30 days before rehydrating it for 24 hours to make it pliable, highlighting the complexity and skill required.

While similar sandals, estimated to be 5,500 years old, were discovered in Armenia, and “Ötzi the Iceman,” a prehistoric man from Italy who lived around 5,300 years ago, had shoes, these recently found sandals in Spain offer a new perspective on the sophistication of prehistoric communities.

Francisco Martinez Sevilla, the leader of the study from the University of Alcala in Spain, described the Cueva de los Murciélagos as a “unique site in Europe to study the organic materials of prehistoric populations.”

These sandals are distinct in that they lack laces but have a single braid attached to the middle that can be tied around the wearer’s ankle. While similar sandals were found in later European periods, they were typically made from different materials rather than solely from grass.

The study stated, “This sandal set therefore represents the earliest and widest-ranging assemblage of prehistoric footwear, both in the Iberian peninsula and in Europe, unparalleled at other latitudes.”