Who is to decide the fate of the oldest shoe?
The world's oldest leather shoe, found in a cave in Armenia, no longer belongs to the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences.
It was handed out to the History Museum of Armenia. Museum Director Anelka Grigoryan says the shoe was given to the museum under the RA Law "On Preservation and Use of Historic and Cultural Immobile Monuments and Historic Environment.
According to the law, all findings discovered in the territory of Armenia in the result of archeological excavation shall be handed to the History Museum of Armenia. The shoe is scheduled to go on display in the near future. IT will be registered in the museum and will have its special number," Anelka Grigoryan said.
"The shoe will be transferred to the museum after making inventory without any agreement," Pavel Avetisyan, Director of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, told A1+.
Four samples of the shoe were sent to Oxford University and to the University of California to undergo radiocarbon analysis.
Pavel Avetisyan notes that the shoe needs further examination and the first one produced no results.
At present, archeologists state that the shoe needs good treatment and preservation.
When the shoe was pulled out of the cave, it was so elastic and archeologists managed to bend it. Now the shoe started to get hard, so it is necessary to treat it with special materials, so that it does not spoil. In this sense, we need cooperate with corresponding institutes," Gregory Areshyan, an archeologist from the USA, told A1+.
If the shoe needs to be taken out of Armenia for additional examination, then it will be done in a special order. The museum will authorise an archeologist, provide him with all relevant documents, as well as insure the shoe," Anelka Grigoryan said.
Gayane Durgaryan, a spokesperson for the RA Ministry of Culture said the Ministry would make a decision based on the conclusion of specialists focusing on the methods and place of preservation.
