Otzi's shoes

Heres an interesting article on the shoes from everyones favorite copper-age Rambo, Ötzi.


"...The shoes were complex. The leather on the bottom was from a bear. It'd been cured in a mixture of bears brains and fat from its liver. Deer leather formed the top. All this was mounted on a mesh of braided linden bark. The bindings were made of calf leather. Straw was used for insulation, and moss as lining..."

"...Hlavacek and a colleague set out to make three exact replicas of Ötzi's shoes, and five additional pairs, each fitted to a specific living person. They used flint to cut the material and bone needles to sew it...."

"...The shoes serve remarkably well. When they have to wade through snowmelt water, they feel an initial sting of cold. But the inside immediately warms up again. Traction is excellent. And the shoes offer no opportunity at all for blisters..."

Full Text at Engines of our ingenuity