Oldest examples of things we still use today

Not sure if this is the right forum, if not mods please move. Thank you.

I found this interesting and thought you all might enjoy

Oldest shoe
This 5,500-year-old leather moccasin is believed to be the world's oldest leather shoe. One thousand years older than Egypt's Great Pyramid of Giza, the shoe was discovered in a cave in Armenia.

Would you wear this? Bet it was comfortable, though I would like to see the bottom, I’m not partial to soft soled shoes.

Oldest photograph
This is thought to be the world's oldest surviving photograph, captured in 1826 from the window of a farmhouse by Joseph Nicephore Niepce. It was taken from an upper bedroom of the Frenchman's country home in Burgundy.

The closest I can come to this is a family photograph taken in 1893.

Oldest globe
This globe, believed to be the world’s oldest, was etched into the surface of an ostrich egg in Italy over 500 years ago.

Kind of debunks the myth that people thought the world was flat during that time period.

Oldest flush toilets
Toilets in the ancient Turkish city of Ephesus were "flushed" by running water that carried waste to a nearby river.

Well, no privacy here! I don't think I could use this - Stage fright if you get my meaning.

Oldest condom
This prophylactic is the oldest in the world, dating back to 1640. Also completely intact is its original user's manual, written in Latin. (It suggests users immerse the condom in warm milk prior to its use to prevent disease.) The condom, made of pig intestine, was found in Lund in Sweden.

I wonder if it was supposed to be reusable. Some things I’m glad they don’t make like they used to.

Oldest gum
This 5,000-year-old piece of chewing gum was discovered by an archaeology student in western Finland. It's comprised of birch bark and still has well-defined tooth imprints.

Stuck under a desk maybe?

Source, there is more.
news.msn.com...=1

I usually go barefoot but I would definitely wear the leather shoe. It looks like it would be as comfortable as a moccasin and probably much safer than the material we currently use to make our articles of clothing.

Great article!! love seeing the old ways. That globe is awesome!!

I wear leather boots everyday, couldnt imagine a day without them!

a reply to: Yeahkeepwatchingme
yeah plus the added safety that it probably wasn't made in a sweatshop. maybe by a slave though...who knows?

a reply to: RedmoonMWC

Wow, really cool post. I love to peer back into history like this.

The only complaint I have (it's NOT directed at you!) ...is them saying "Thought to be the world's oldest..." when they really should say "so far, the oldest one discovered." Surely they aren't naive enough to close the book on any hope of unearthing an even older version!

The writer should make it clear that, while the archaeologist's find might be 'King of the mountain' right now, there are many more mountains and valleys left to excavate!

Just love the finds, tho... thanks for sharing!

10,000 year old sandals made from sagebrush

Sandals from Fort Rock cave, Oregon USA

a reply to: RedmoonMWC

Earliest Chewing Gum? Birch Bark Tar with Tooth impressions from the Mesolithic in Scandinavia.

I've tried it and it takes some getting used to but it's not so bad. Plus it makes you salivate quite profusely and turns it red.

Earliest link i found suggested about 9500 BP at the earliest.

Link

Cool Thread

I still use my whatchamacallit.

A personal favorite

400,000 year old wooden javelins

archive.archaeology.org...

a reply to: RedmoonMWC

Here's a good treasure trove for this thread, a Wikipedia navbox named 'Prehistoric technology'

alright, it didn't link, and somehow has a smiley face which wasn't in the code. Just look up Template: Prehistoric technology on Wikipedia and you'll have it.