Oregon Archaeology: Excavation Yields Old Shoe

9,000 Year Old Artifact Found by Archeologist L.S. Cressman

Sep 11, 2008

Archaeologists digging in Oregon's famous Fort Rock caves uncovered a 9,000 sandal, one of the oldest artifacts in America.

The Sandal in the Cave by L.S. Cressman is a thorough examination of Indian life all throughout Oregon from the earliest known traces of habitation up to present times. Cressman is one of the archaeologists who excavated the Fort Rock cave in 1938, which yielded the one of the oldest known artifacts in Oregon: the 9,000 year old sandal.

Oldest Known Artifacts in the World

The oldest known artifacts in the world are some stone tool fragments originally carved by human ancestors from Africa. The tools are dated to be around 2.6 million years old. (Bower). The oldest artifact in America was also found in Oregon caves, in the form of human feces. The ancient feces was found in Paisley Caves and is estimated to be around 14,300 years old, 5,000 years older than both the sandal and the recently discovered Kennewick Man skeleton. (Doughton)

Sandal in the Fort Rock Cave

Cressman published his book in 1981 after a lifelong career of studying Oregon artifacts. Sandal in the Cave describes the excavation and what it was like to uncover such a find in that arid, dusty region. In each chapter he explains the implications of what artifacts have been found for each region of Oregon, following a description of what the region looked like.

For example, in the first chapter, Cressman explains what the land looked like for each region of Oregon, over the last 10,000 years, based on archaeological findings. He divides the state into:

Cressman only focuses on the sandal from the Fort Rock Cave in the first chapter and the rest of the book is a history of Native Oregonians and their lifestyles.

Spear points, sandals found in Oregon Caves Excavations, Now Reside in Museum

On the Oregon shore near the head of Long Narrows a couple of spear points dating back 11,000 years were found, as part of an effort to excavate the area for artifacts before the Dalles Dam was completed and subsequent waters washed away any remaining evidence. These spearheads were similar to some found in the Klamath lake area about 300 miles to the South. (Cressman)

The famous sandal from the Fort Rock cave is made of woven sagebrush bark and resides in a climate-controlled archive at University of Oregon’s Museum of Natural and Cultural History. (AP) The sandal has a long history before arriving at U of O's museum shelves.

Oregon’s Fort Rock Cave: Archaeological Sandals, Artifacts Reveal History

Northeast of the Klamath Lake area is the Great Basin. Lines of gravel in this now dry, arid landscape indicate beach lines from old lakes, whose waters crafted caves from soft lava rocks. Evidence shows that man used these rocks for shelter. (Cressman) Down in the dirt of one of these caves, below a layer of ash from the catastrophic eruption of Mt. Mazama about 7,500 years ago, was a sandal. Radiocarbon dating ages the sandal to be about 9,300 years old. (Armstrong)

Archaelogists suggest that the wearer of this sandal lived right there in the Fort Rock cave, where his shoe was the only thing left to show any trace of his existence 9,300 years ago. (Connolly)

Other findings suggest more in-depth description of the life of Oregon's Cave Man.

The copyright of the article Oregon Archaeology: Excavation Yields Old Shoe in Anthropology is owned by Stephanie Cox. Permission to republish Oregon Archaeology: Excavation Yields Old Shoe in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.