The oldest examples of footwear which have been accurately dated directly from the shoes themselves are 'Fort Rock' type sandals, ten of which have been carbon-dated to ages between 9,300 – 10,500 years old. These distinctive shoes are made of sagebrush, and likely to have been worn by native North Americans. The first of these sandals were discovered by archaeologist, Luther Cressman (USA) of the University of Oregon in Fort Rock Cave, Oregon, USA in 1938, where parts of over 100 sandals were identified. Since then, Fort Rock sandals have been found at numerous other sites in southeast Oregon and northern Nevada, USA. The youngest radiocarbon samples, taken on fibers from Fort Rock Cave sandals and stylistically identical sandals from nearby caves, are aged more than 9,000 years. The shoes are part of a collection held at the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History, Oregon, USA.

Please note, that a pair of hide moccasins found in a cave in Nevada, belonging to the ‘Spirit Cave Man’ date to approximately 10,600 years, however their age has been associated, i.e. not been dated directly.