The Neandertals
by Erik Trinkaus
and Pat ShipmanThe Neandertal Enigma
by James Shreeve
Posted on 08/24/2005 10:06:07 PM PDT by LibWhacker
Sturdy shoes first came into widespread use between 40,000 and 26,000 years ago, according to a US scientist.
Humans' small toes became weaker during this time, says physical anthropologist Erik Trinkaus, who has studied scores of early human foot bones.
He attributes this anatomical change to the invention of rugged shoes, that reduced our need for strong, flexible toes to grip and balance.
The research is presented in the Journal of Archaeological Science.
The development of footwear appears to have affected the four so-called "lesser" toes - excepting the big toe.
Ancient footwear
While early humans living in cold northern climates may have begun covering up their feet to insulate them as early as 500,000 years ago, protective footwear comparable to modern-day shoes is thought to be a much later innovation.
It has been difficult for archaeologists to determine exactly when humans stopped going barefoot, however, because the plant and animal materials used to make prehistoric shoes is highly perishable.
"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.
But by examining the foot bones of early modern humans (Homo sapiens) and Neaderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) dating from 10,000 to 100,000 years ago, Professer Trinkaus says he has determined the period in which footwear became the norm.
Anatomical evidence
He found Neanderthals and early moderns living in Middle Palaeolithic times (100,000 to 40,000 years ago) had thicker, and therefore stronger, lesser toes than those of Upper Palaeolithic people living 26,000 years ago.
A shoe-less lifestyle promotes stronger little toes, says Professor Trinkaus, because "when you walk barefoot, you grip the ground with your toes as a natural reflex". Because hard-soled shoes improve both grip and balance, regularly shod people develop weaker little toes.
To test the theory that the more delicate toes resulted from shoe use, the Washington University researcher compared the foot bones of early Native Americans, who regularly went barefoot, and contemporary Alaskan Inuits, who sported heavy sealskin boots.
Again, he identified chunkier toes in the population that routinely went without shoes. The research suggests shoe-wearers developed weaker toes simply because of the reduced stresses on them during their lifetime; it was not an evolutionary change.
The comparison proves his hypothesis, he says: "It has been suggested in the past that thicker toes and fingers are related to greater blood supply in colder climates, but it just doesn't hold up."
Cultural "explosion"
The advent of footwear occurred during a period Professor Trinkaus describes as "a well-documented archaeological explosion" which also produced a number of other notable human advances.
Paul Mellars, professor of prehistory and human evolution at the University of Cambridge, UK, agrees there were "dramatic changes" in human behaviour at this time. "From 35,000 years ago onward, you see the first art, the first stone tools, and the first personal decorations and jewellery."
More advanced shoe-making skills could have been a product of this overall increase in technological ingenuity.
"There is a strong hint that people were doing more complicated things with ...skins, with special stone tools for cleaning and awls for piercing.
"In view of all these changes, it wouldn't be at all surprising if we saw better shoes," Professor Mellars explained.
Sorry I didn't ping you to this. For some reason, I thought you had pinged me here in the first place.
The Neandertals
by Erik Trinkaus
and Pat ShipmanThe Neandertal Enigma
by James Shreeve
Is that the *sole* reason?
Well, if you get blisters from ill fitting shoes, I hope they *heel*.
I'd bet money it was a woman...
Shoes for bound feet, 19th century, China. They are 3 1/2 inches long!
aquadextrous (ak'w -dek'str s). 1. (adj.) Possessing the ability to turn the bathtub faucet on and off with your toes.
I read an article years ago that claimed ancient Romans had exceedingly long toes. I guess this guy didn't read the article or check out any Roman statues.
I feel like such a heel about it. I'll try to make sure it's the "last" time something like this happens. If I seem to be pestering you, I hope you don't assume I'm a wanton "vamp", but if you do, keep your "tongue" about it, as it would wound my "sole" & I might pound my head against a wall hard enough to raise "welts".
LOL Is there any other way? Regulating water temperature is another part of the art.
Depends on what you step in...
Actually, all joking aside, the best reason to wear substantial shoes is to prevent injury and possible fatal infection.
If people with little toes and delicate feet wore shoes, they may have reduced their chances of dying of complications from a relatively minor foot injury and selectively survived better to pass on their genetic traits.
I have seen the mutilated feet of the women who wear those things.
To call it "barbaric" beggars the word.
Heck yeah....;)
In my glory days, I could -run- down a gravel lane and not even wince.
My parents always made sure to keep my tetanus shots up to date because it was much easier than keeping me properly shod...:)
My family has always suspected that the hospital made a mistake and that, somewhere, they have a real, "normal" child they've never met....:)
Does the tongue-flip thing done with the mouth closed or opened?
I can do that with it closed but not open.
[and yes, I did just now try it for the first time...never heard of it before]
I can also do "mirror writing".
[using two pens, writing forward with the right hand and backwards with the left, simultaneously....have no idea what that "means"...just another useless "talent" I reckon]....;))
"....fold it back on to itself..."
I can do that, too. I didn't realize that it was a rare ability, as everyone in my family can do it.
My wife, on the other hand, can't even stick her tongue out!!
Shoes for industry..
Gravel was not a problem, but I did step on my share of nails in old planks that had washed ashore in a storm and been covered by flotsam and grass along the river as a kid.
Oh yes, the tetanus shot was up to date...one way or another.
But that was back in the days when the wonder drug antibiotics were fairly new and highly effective.
Not so now, and they are becoming less effective against the infections we knew of then and are ineffective against other, newer, (commonly viral/retroviral) bugs today.
Once again, shoes are a good option.
Bones? He's dead, Jim.
The shoes to have, when I was a child, were made by a Mr. Tenny.
Of modest cost, they would enable a young lad to climb mountains, cross deserts, peddle bikes, fish in safety, find mystery, adventure and fun, while allowing a speedy retreat.
Mothers and Teachers called a new pair Jim Shoes, and we kids, not allowed to call adults by their first name, naturally assumed Mr. Tenny's first name was Jim.
I would love to find a new pair of the finest adventure footwear ever made, a pair of Mr.Tenny's Shoes.
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