Unlike the ancient Egyptian mummies, which went through a complicated preservation process to dry out their flesh, most of these corpses were preserved simply by putting them somewhere where moisture was scant.

FORBES: What The Hardened Arteries Of Ancient Mummies Mean For Picking A Diet

The archaeologists put the shoe's remarkable preservation down to the stable, cool and dry conditions in the cave and the fact that the floor of the cave was covered by a thick layer of sheep dung.

BBC: 'Oldest leather shoe' discovered