The historical roots of local fetish

I've often said that LA distinguishes itself from, say, an east coast city by its relationship to transportation:

In LA, cars are extensions of bodies and feet are objects of art.

Well, Andrea just sent evidence that there are longstanding historical roots to this phenomenon. From the BBC news story "Bones reveal first shoe-wearers":

"The oldest shoes in the world are about 9,000 years old, and they're from California," said Professor Trinkaus, of Washington University in St Louis, US.