How were shoes invented?

How were shoes invented?

A foot covering was one of the first things made by our primitive ancestors, who recognized early the importance of protecting their feet. They used grass and bark and hides to devise some method of protecting their feet from the jagged rocks, burning sands, and rough terrain over which they had to roam in search of food and shelter. In 8000 BC, Native Americans in Missouri left evidences of the earliest remaining shoe. When the “Ice Man” died in the Alps in 3, 300 BC among the relics he left behind was a primitive pair of shoes stuffed with grass. Early Egyptian civilizations have also left behind sandals, finely made from plaited papyrus leaves. The Romans, intent on spreading their empire, were the first ones to devise a practical military shoe for their legions. The moccasin was the original shoe made and worn in cold climates by races as different as North American Indians, Eskimos, Laplanders and Siberian tribesmen. This distinctive leather shoe had a puckering string that was gathered up and tied about the ankles to give all over protection to the foot.

Even today moccasins with a distinctive ‘seam’ on the upper part are very popular