[Beowulf9]

Dog is domesticated at this time but still people walking barefoot.

I would think that to be kind enough to an animal would require some intelligence that would enable the making of shoes.

[ichabod1]

Maybe they didn’t wear shoes in the field. This sounds like marshy, mucky ground, and then the river took it away.

[Rockpile]

They saved the shoes for stomping on grapes.

[SunkenCiv]

I think it was more of a lifestyle choice; the making of footwear was, of course, practiced by Precolumbian Americans.