Thought this was interesting-recreated 5,300 year old shoes

[Shamey]

This is just the first couple paragraphs - there is a picture in the article

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05192/535974.stm

Detective work, persistence pay off in project to recreate ancient footwear
Monday, July 11, 2005
By Susanna Loof, The Associated Press

ZLIN, Czech Republic -- Lined with hay and held together by a net of rough string, the leather shoes look bulky, itchy and downright uncomfortable.

But if they were good enough for Oetzi, the 5,300-year-old man found in an alpine glacier in 1991, they're good enough for the modern foot, insists Petr Hlavacek, a Czech shoe expert who has created replicas, taken them out for a walk and pronounced them far better than most modern footwear.

"These shoes are very comfortable. They are perfectly able to protect your feet against hard terrain, against hot temperatures, against cold temperatures," he said, showing off the replicas in his office at Tomas Bata University in this eastern Czech town.

Despite their flimsy leather soles, the shoes offer a good grip and superb shock absorption, and are blister-free, Hlavacek said.

It's like going barefoot, "only better," he said. "In the Oetzi shoes, you feel something like freedom, flexibility."