Melting Yukon Icefield Reveals Canada's Oldest Footwear - AFP

[hatrack]

Researchers have discovered what they believe to be Canada's oldest known footwear -- a 1,400-year-old mangled leather moccasin -- in the northern Yukon territory, officials told AFP Wednesday. The ankle-high sewn leather shoe was first thought to be a hunter's bag and was kept frozen until recently when archeologists cleaned and assembled the fragile pieces.

The shoe was recovered from a melting alpine ice patch in 2003 by a team of artifact hunters scouring a region where ancient snow and ice up to 9,000 years old has recently begun melting due to global warming.

"The moccasin is really important because it represents an every day piece of footwear. It gives us some insight into their daily lives," said Yukon Conservator Valery Monahan, who spent some 240 hours gently unfurling, cleaning and reshaping the shoe.

It was caked in feces and had moss growing through it, she said. The shoe looked to have been repaired twice with new stitching and a sole patch before being discarded, she added.


EDIT

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Melting_Yukon_Ice_Fields_Reveal_Ancient_Canadian_Footwear.html

[applegrove]

1. I got to the part where they were watching the 9000 year old ice melt

and felt like crying. But interesting story.