Luther Cressman’s Fieldwork Footage (c1938)

Luther S. Cressman (1897-1994) was an anthropology professor at the University of Oregon whose discoveries in eastern Oregon changed many of the long-held beliefs about human civilization in North America. He is best known for his discovery of the 10,000-year-old sagebrush bark sandals at Fort Rock in 1938, aka “the world’s oldest surviving shoes.” We recently digitized the films of his excavations in Fort Rock Cave and Paisley Cave in 1938-39. You can see him uncover a pair of children’s sandals at 04:52.