The shoe dates back 5,000 years to the so-called “Horgen” culture, according to the Zurich building authorities in a statement on Tuesday.
The shoe is a “prime example of the ingenious manufacturing of Neolithic clothing”, says the statement. It is made out bast, a material rarely used today and made out of the deeper layers of certain types of tree barks.
The statement added that the recovery and subsequent conservation of the fragile find was a very lengthy and complicated process. The pristine appearance of the shoe was highly unusual.
“It’s a miracle that a textile object so ancient remained unaffected by natural decomposition and could be preserved in such good condition,” it concluded.
What factors should be taken into account when inheriting Swiss citizenship abroad?
Should there be a limit to the passing on of Swiss citizenship? Or is the current practice too strict and it should still be possible to register after the age of 25?
Is your place of origin, your Heimatort, important to you?
Every Swiss citizen has a Heimatort, a place of origin, but many have never visited theirs. What’s your relationship with your Heimatort? What does it mean to you?
Over a quarter of Swiss Catholics consider leaving the church
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In Switzerland 27% of Catholics have thought about leaving the church, according to a survey by the Sotomo research centre.
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Following the Credit Suisse debacle, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) is adapting its organisation.
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The Swiss Armed Forces are training their fighter jets in Bern to fly from a civilian base. The exercise at Bern Airport will last until Wednesday.
Plans materialise for new particle accelerator in Geneva
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Preparations for a huge new particle accelerator in Geneva have reached a milestone. After several years of work, a feasibility study for the project has now been finalised.
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The value of frozen Russian assets in Switzerland currently stands at CHF7.4 billion ($8.4 billion), the Swiss government announced on Tuesday.
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The number of business start-ups in Switzerland accelerated in the first three months of the year, with entrepreneurs being particularly dynamic in Central Switzerland, Basel and Geneva.
Most Swiss authorities want to ban Nazi symbols in public
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A majority of Swiss political parties, cantons and associations want to ban the use and distribution of Nazi symbols in public.
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Is Swiss town Chur one of world’s oldest?
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The Swiss town of Chur claims it’s at least 11,000 years old. If true, that would make it as old or older than Jericho in the Middle East.
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Scientists from the Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research at Bern University say there’s a chain of evidence supporting a theory that shepherds living in southwestern Switzerland around 5,000 BC drove their herds to pastures situated at around 2,750 metres above sea level in the Alps. “We have strong indications that argue that people were…
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An international research team led by York and Newcastle universities studied residues found on small pieces of pottery dating from the Neolithic times to the Iron Age. They found that the residue on shards from the 1st Millennium BC – the Iron Age – had the same chemical signatures associated with heating milk from animals…
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.