Hunans Invent Shoes

    Although our feet are well designed for a variety of movements,
they cannot always give enough protection from burning sands,
intense cold, and very rough surfaces. The first shoe designs depended
on where the inventor lived, the conditions people there
needed protection from, and.the materials available. Being able to
move fast was important for survival. Shoes needed to be light-
weight but still strong enough for adequate protection. They
neroed to enclose the foot and not easily come loose.
    In warm climates, early people found or made fiat pieces of
material that they could tie onto the soles of their feet. People in
colder climates wrapped animal skins around their feet and legs
and tied them on with thongs. h1 some places a short bag-like cover
that only enclosed the foot wa worn. So from early times, humans
had three basic types of foorwear—the sandal. the boot, and the
shoe.
    How do we know what shoes people wore? Some actual examples
exist, and we can also learn about them from paintings and
sculptures. Sometimes footwear is described in writings or listed in
inventories. Although ·we know about general styles, it is often difficult
to figure out exactly how particular shoe was made.
    The oldest shoes that have been found date back about ten thousand
years. They were discovered in a cave in Oregon, preserved
under layers of pumice and volcanicash. To make the sole, grass
and shredded sagebrush bark were twisted into ropes about as
thick as a pencil. Five pieces of this rop , somewhat longer than the
foot, were laid out lengthwise. These were woven tightly together
with thinner rope, leaving loops on the sides as the rope was interlaced
back and forth. The front ends of the five strands were folded
back over the foot to protect the toes. This "sandal" was held on by
a tie string drawn through the side loops. Rabbit fur and pine needles
were sometimes added for paddin and extra warmth.
    Probably by the late Stone Age. around 6500 B.C., people had developed
the basic skills for preparing animal hides and sewing them
together to make shoes.
    It was not long before hoes bee me more than just necessities
and were used to et the wearer apart from other people. Through-out history, shoes have been worn as symbols of religion, rank,
wealth, or power. Decoration, color, and style became as important
as workmanship and fit. Whenever people traveled to other
places, traded with other groups, or conquered other lands, shoe
inventions and fashions were exchanged.
    Early man made his own shoes, and some people continued to
make shoes for themselves and their families until recent times.
Shoemaking, however, soon became a job that everyone who could
afford to left to skilled workers.
    Until the last couple of centuries, the design of men's shoes was
given more attention than those for women. Women's feet were
often hidden beneath long skirts. Men had a greater variety of
styles and ornaments; women usually wore shoes of more delicate
materials. Working people needed sturdy, practical footwear.
Wealthy people wore shoes that showed they didn't need to work
and in some cases, even to walk. Children have usually worn
smaller versions of adult styles.
    In ancient Egypt, shoes were at first a status symbol, worn only
by nobles, priests, and warriors. Those who wore shoes protected
their feet from the hot sands with sandals, which were easy to put
on and take off and kept feet cool and well ventilated. Egyptian
sandals were often just a sole, held on by a thong that passed between
the big toe and the second roe and was attached to a band
that went around the ankle or instep.
    These sandals were usually woven from plant fibers like papyrus.
flax, or palm. The Egyptians also knew how to tan and dress hides
to make leather. Sometimes they made soles of two thicknesses,
sewing a heavy leather sole to a thin upper sole. They used waxed
thread for sewing, as well as circular knives, awls. and other tools
similar to those still used by modern shoemakers. Shoes were
shaped to fit right and left feet and were dyed scarlet, green, and
purple and ornamented with jewels and gold. Pharaohs' shoes
were works of art.
    Later Egyptians adopted new shoe styles brought back by travelers,
traders, and warriors-shoes with upturned toes, sock~like
boots, and low slippers. They invented footwear for special jobs.
Butchers wore shoes with heels to raise their feet off the bloody,
slippery ground when they were slaughtering animals. Shoes some-times had a linen lining with a figure of a bound captive painted on
it, so that warriors could symbolically crush their enemies beneath
their feet. By around 1300 B.C., more people were wearing shoes. It
had become improper to go barefoot outside and no upper class
man or woman appeared barefoot in the streets.
    In Egypt, other parts of Africa, and many Asian cultures, the
same basic shoe styles have been worn for thousands of years. Even
today, when American sneakers and other western-style shoes are
available in most parts of the world. these traditional shoes are still
being made.