The materials of the moccasins — the specific animal hides used, the sinew or other thread used for sewing, the specific form of the finished shoe — have been analyzed by specialists in Great Basin footwear traditions.

The results of that analysis were consistent with the material culture of the region’s historic peoples, adding to the broader picture of cultural continuity between the ancient and modern inhabitants of the Great Basin.

But there is something more immediate than the technical analysis.

Someone made those moccasins.

Someone else wore them.

And when that person died, others placed him in the cave and did not remove the moccasins from his feet.

The moccasins were part of what he wore in life, and they were part of what he wore in death.