Ancient Sandals And 13th Century Artifacts Found In Bone-eating Bird's Nest In Spain

Bearded Nasar Bird (Bearded Culture). (Photo. Sergio Couto/Margalida et al., Ecology, 2025)

JAKARTA A surprising discovery came from southern Spain, when researchers discovered a pair of sandals about 700 years old as well as a number of other ancient artifacts in a bone-eating bird's nest. These findings have become a kind of treasure' of human history that has been preserved for centuries.

The study was conducted between 2008 and 2014 by a team studying the nest of bedged culture birds on steep Spanish cliffs. As a result, one of the 12 nests studied is known to have been used since the 13th century, making it one of the oldest natural sites to continue to be used by the species.

In the nest, scientists found complete sandals from the 700-year-old esparto grass rope, fragments of lamb skin painted ocher about 650 years, to pieces of 18th-century basket. Not only that, there are also arrow bolts, wooden spears, catapults, and pieces of old cloth, all of which are evidence of past human life maintained in unexpected places.

Antoni Margalida from the Pyrenean Institute of Ecology revealed that the Bearded Nasar Bird is known to bring various objects to its nest for construction materials.

"We are surprised by the large number of ancient objects found and the long life of this nest," he said, quoted by the New York Post, Saturday, October 11.

According to Margalida, the findings show that a bird's nest can function like a time capsule that stores traces of human history. This large bird itself has a wingspan of up to three meters and is known to like to eat unique characteristic bones' which makes it an important part of the mountainous ecosystem.

John Fitzpatrick of Cornell Lab of Ornithology said this research opens a new perspective in understanding the relationship between wildlife and human cultural history. Who would have thought, a bird's nest could be a secret store of the past for hundreds of years.