The shoe dates back 5,000 years to the so-called “Horgen” culture, according to the Zurich building authorities in a statement on Tuesday.
The shoe is a “prime example of the ingenious manufacturing of Neolithic clothing”, says the statement. It is made out bast, a material rarely used today and made out of the deeper layers of certain types of tree barks.
The statement added that the recovery and subsequent conservation of the fragile find was a very lengthy and complicated process. The pristine appearance of the shoe was highly unusual.
“It’s a miracle that a textile object so ancient remained unaffected by natural decomposition and could be preserved in such good condition,” it concluded.
First large-scale alpine solar plant approved in Switzerland
This content was published on
The approval was met with satisfaction by the project's organisers, but it also brings with it a certain amount of pressure.
Medieval squirrels may have ‘helped spread leprosy’
This content was published on
An examination of squirrel remains in the United Kingdom has opened up interesting questions and possibilities in terms of the history of the disease.
Swiss money laundering office registers record number of reports
This content was published on
The Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland (MROS) registered a record number of reports of suspicious activity last year.
Two teens accused of planning terror attack released from custody
This content was published on
The Schaffhausen judiciary has released the two teenagers from custody who allegedly planned bomb attacks in Switzerland.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Is Swiss town Chur one of world’s oldest?
This content was published on
The Swiss town of Chur claims it’s at least 11,000 years old. If true, that would make it as old or older than Jericho in the Middle East.
This content was published on
Scientists from the Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research at Bern University say there’s a chain of evidence supporting a theory that shepherds living in southwestern Switzerland around 5,000 BC drove their herds to pastures situated at around 2,750 metres above sea level in the Alps. “We have strong indications that argue that people were…
This content was published on
An international research team led by York and Newcastle universities studied residues found on small pieces of pottery dating from the Neolithic times to the Iron Age. They found that the residue on shards from the 1st Millennium BC – the Iron Age – had the same chemical signatures associated with heating milk from animals…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.