Fort Rock Cave is the site of the earliest evidence of human habitation in the U.S. state of Oregon, including 10,000-year-old sandals (the oldest footwear ever discovered).^[1] The cave is located approximately 0.5 mi (0.8 km) west of Fort Rock on the Reub Long ranch in Lake County.^[2][3]

Fort Rock Cave was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961.

Archeology

University of Oregon archaeologist Luther Cressman's 1938 excavations at Fort Rock Cave placed human habitation in Oregon as early as 13,200 years ago.^[1][4][5] Cressman's team also recovered numerous examples of sandals woven from sagebrush bark below a layer of Mazama Ash (deposited by the explosion forming Crater Lake about 7600 years ago). Radiocarbon dating of these sandals, now displayed at the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History in Eugene, has shown some to be over 10,000 years old.^[5][6] Several other prehistoric artifacts have been found at Fort Rock Cave, including basketry and stone and rock tools.^[7]

See also

• Kennewick Man, skeletal remains discovered in the Pasco Basin
• Marmes Rockshelter, on the lower Snake River
• Paisley Caves, also in eastern Oregon, the site of perhaps the oldest human remains in the Americas

References

External links

• Fort Rock Cave information from Oregon Parks and Recreation Department