While they may not have been the markings of a pair of Naot sandals, Israel Antiquities Authority conservators discovered footprints over 1,700 years old in early October under the Lod mosaic and at least one print resembling a modern sandal.

Head of the Israel Antiquities Authority Art Conservation Branch Jacques Neguer said that when removing a section of a mosaic, it is customary to clean its bedding, and study the material from which it is made and the construction stages. It was during that process that they found the footprints under the mosaic.

"We look for drawings and sketches that the artists made in the plaster and marked where each of the tesserae will be placed," Neguer said...

...He said that similarities of the footprints of the sandals lie in the fact that sandals today are based on the footwear of the past.

"They're simple," Neguer said. "If it's comfortable, why change it...