 |
| Indiana James holding the newly discovered stone shoe |
The
world of archaeology was a buzz about a recent find! So I, Mr. Smiley
and my photographer, Daniel P. Smithwater, headed over to Burlington,
Vermont to
get the inside story on the finding of the first “modern” shoe ever made.
Indiana James, a famous archaeologist was off exploring in the Amazon
Rainforests of South America when he discovered the some very old ruins that
were estimated to be 3,000 years old. In an ancient temple, he found a pair of
stone shoes. This is evidence that ancient royalty wore the first modern
looking shoes. How does it look modern? Well for starters it is completely
enclosed. Most other people at the time were wearing sandals or bare feet. So
these are the first “modern” looking shoes. “They are very similar to
sneakers,” says Indiana James, “but since the material to make sneakers wasn’t
invented yet, they had to make these shoes out of stone.” Some old paintings on
the temple walls may have the story as to how these stone shoes came to be: a
great Native South American king wanted to look more impressive than his
contemporaries. So he told his head shoe maker (possibly named Sir Keystone),
to make him an impressive shoe within 24 hours or else he would be stoned to
death (the king was very strict). So in sheer desperation, he sat thinking over
the next 24 hours as to how he could make these impressive shoes. He thought of
what types of stone they would use to stone him, and this gave him an idea. Why
not make stone shoes? So he got to work. By the end of the 24 hours, he had
made a pair of beautiful shoes with the king’s face where the ankle was and three
blue jewels on the sides of this shoe. The king was so pleased, he offered to
give the shoe maker whatever he wished. The shoe maker wanted one of the blue
jewels (which is why one of the jewels on the shoes are missing!). The king
granted his request and to this day, the shoes look exactly how they did when
they were first made. But I’m not sure I’d want to wear those shoes, it would
make running make your feet sweaty!
Story written by: Mr. Smiley
Photographs taken by: Daniel P. Smithwater
Edited by: Christian Ryan M.
Weekly Cartoon
Next Issue: Human Footprint Found with Dinosaurs?
No comments:
Post a Comment