Yucca Sandals – Canyon of the Ancients, CO
Institution: Canyon of the Ancients National Monument
State: Colorado
Object: Shoes
Era: Ancestral Puebloan
This sandal, woven from yucca fibers, was found at Canyon of the Ancients National Monument in southwestern Colorado. Between approximately 15000 BC and 1300 AD, the area was home to the Ancestral Puebloans (formally referred to by the Navajo name Anasazi, “ancient enemies”). The Ancestral Puebloan culture is best known for its stone and adobe pueblos built along cliffs, but its black-and-gray pottery style and petroglyphs are also distinctive.
These sandals were found during the Dolores Archaeological Program, a project from the University of Colorado that excavated 125 archaeological sites at Canyon of the Ancients before they were impacted by the construction of McPhee Reservoir, collecting over 1.5 million artifacts.
The sandal base was woven from whole yucca leaves, with the papery “skin” of the plant still visible. This was a relatively easy to make and durable form of footwear, which would have been needed for traveling the over 400 mile Ancestral Puebloan road network . The sandal straps that attached the base to the foot were made by scraping yucca leaves to reveal the plant fibers, then twisting them into cordage. The exact method of yucca processing and weaving is still investigated by experimental archaeologists and amateur crafters alike.
