Posted on 01/25/2008 2:21:03 PM PST by blam
Earliest Shoe-Wearers Revealed by Toe Bones
Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News
Shod? Look at the Toes Jan. 25, 2008 -- People started wearing shoes around 40,000 years ago, according to a study on recently excavated small toe bones that belonged to an individual from China who apparently loved shoes.
Most footwear erodes over time. The earliest known shoes, rope sandals that attached to the feet with string, date to only around 10,000 B.C. For the new study, the clues were in middle toe bones that change during an individual's lifetime if the person wears shoes a lot.
"When you walk barefoot, your middle toes curl into the ground to give you traction as you push off," explained co-author Erik Trinkaus, who worked on the study with Hong Shang.
"If you regularly wear Nikes, moccasins or any other type of shoe, you actually wind up pushing off with your big toe, with less force going through the middle toes," added Trinkaus, a Washington University anthropologist who is one of the world's leading experts on early human evolution.
Small toe bones are rare in the archaeological record, so Trinkaus and Hong jumped at the chance to study the 40,000-year-old skeleton, which was found in Tianyuan Cave near Zhoukoudian, China.
They also analyzed a recently found 27,500-year-old Russian skeleton with middle toe bones, as well as Neanderthal and modern Puebloan and Inuit skeletons, also with such bones.
The findings have been accepted for publication in the Journal of Archaeological Science.
The researchers determined that both the Chinese and Russian individuals had more lightly built middle toe bones relative to their body size. The Russian skeleton was also found with other individuals who had an abundance of ivory beads around their ankles and feet, suggesting these individuals likely wore some fairly flashy shoes. To test the toe theory, the scientists conducted similar analysis on the more modern samples. The habitually barefoot Native American Puebloan possessed much more robust middle toe bones.
The shoe-wearing Inuit, who had a very active lifestyle, possessed semi-sturdy middle toe bones, while the Neanderthal, with ultra hefty middle toe bones, showed no signs of having worn shoes.
Trinkaus explained to Discovery News that the date of the first footwear corresponds with an important time in human history.
"A cultural evolution was starting," he said of the Paleolithic period. "We start to see all kinds of changes, such as more elaborate toolkits and the beginnings of art. The findings about footwear are another piece in the puzzle."
Trenton Holliday, an associate professor of anthropology at Tulane University, told Discovery News that the toe bone comparison between ancient and more modern groups "gives credence to Trinkaus' position that one can determine whether prehistoric groups were shod, at least with rigid-soled shoes, by examining the robusticity of the [bones] of their lesser toes."
Holliday, however, doubts that Neanderthals were completely shoe-free.
"Considering that they lived in Europe primarily during glacial periods, I find it highly improbable that they did not wear some type of footwear, so what I think is most likely is that they wore some type of soft wraps on their feet that did not alter their locomoter biomechanics of their feet the way a stiff-soled shoe would," Holliday said.
Trinkaus agrees with Holliday's Neanderthal theory, although he suggested Neanderthals might have frequently gone barefoot too.
"Some individuals even today still don't wear shoes and live in very cold environments, such as in the hills of Eastern Bulgaria and Romania," he said.
ummm - I have an acquaintance whose whole career is Underwater Archeology in the Mediterranean
It was much more catastrophic than that.
"This area when above water would have been twice the size of India, and included what we now call Indo-China, Malaysia and Indonesia. The South China Sea, the Gulf of Thailand and the Java Sea, formed the connecting parts.
The amazing part = He gets paid to do it, lol.
Can you wear socks or mukluk type slippers?
Yes, and I do.
Years ago I read an article that addressed how fashion distorted the human body - women deforming themselves to attain that “wasp-waist” look in the 1890s, etc. The writer asked, in effect, “When is a deformity not a deformity?”. He referred to our big toe as another example.
Pictures/statues of barefoot or sandaled people, ancient or modern, showed big toes that were straight. People who wore shoes all their lives had them bent inward from the shoes design. Since most of us wear shoes, and all have “bent” big toes, we don’t consider them “deformed”. (Brings to mind that old classic Twilight Zone episode.)
Japanese people showed a wide gap between the front and second toes because of the “shower shoe” design of their ethnic footwear.
Moving to the other end of the body, consider all the celebreties, et al who cosmetically had a gap inserted between their upper front teeth (which probably matches the gap between their ears).
Has anyone ever hypothesized what it might be if it isn’t allergies? For example, is it better or worse if you have socks on? Is it perhaps the pressure against the skin? Or perhaps maybe the lack of oxygen flow against the skin? If you wear sandals do you just get the problem where the straps were on your skin? Is it your entire foot (sides and bottom)? Does it matter what the shoe is made from or do all shoes cause this? What about an all-cotton shoe? If you wear tight clothing that isn’t breathable and you sweat, do you get the same skin problems that you see on your feet?
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“What civilizations could have pre-dated the Egyptians or Sumarians?”According to the renowned expert,the Rev Al Sharpton:”While they were building the pyramids,we(europeans)were still living in caves.”Note:accurate quote but liberal dose of sarc intended:)Seriously-from what i understand(amateur opinion)it’s very likely there are even older civilizations(pre-dating Egypt and Sumaria),but they’re under water.Specifically in the area of the Mediteranian and around the coast of England.
And is that the presidential seal on 43's socks?!
Q: Has anyone ever hypothesized what it might be if it isn’t allergies?
A: Yes. But, when you get right down to it, when your immune system attacks you (asthma, crohn’s disease, eczema, etc.), that is an allergy.
Q: For example, is it better or worse if you have socks on?
A: Socks without shoes are ok, shoes without socks are suicide.
Q: Is it perhaps the pressure against the skin?
A: Interesting idea - but, probably not, as I imagine my posterior experiences much more pressure, as I am on the computer all day.
Q: Or perhaps maybe the lack of oxygen flow against the skin?
A: Same answer as above, I guess.
Q: If you wear sandals do you just get the problem where the straps were on your skin?
A: Yes.
Q: Is it your entire foot (sides and bottom)?
A: Yes.
Q: Does it matter what the shoe is made from or do all shoes cause this?
A: Every one that I have tried, same problem.
Q: What about an all-cotton shoe?
A: Never tried that.
Q: If you wear tight clothing that isn’t breathable and you sweat, do you get the same skin problems that you see on your feet?
A: I don’t do that, and don’t care to try.
Man, that was like a medical interview, LOL!
Hi again,
basically anything but cotton, putting more pressure than a sock would, against your feet seem to cause a problem. Socks don’t cause a problem, but shoes do. Since to get white socks, you have to use chemicals to get them white, your skin doesn’t seem to have a problem with that. If you are able to wear colored cotton socks, you don’t seem to have a problem with the dyes coloring the socks.
Do you notice when you wear shoes that your feet sweat, noticeably? Because wearing socks, your sweat can easily evaporate. The excess sweat can act as a chemical vehicle and solvent extracting chemicals from the linings of your shoes. These dissolved, shoe chemicals can cause skin rashes (contact or allergic dermatitis). It would seem that this is going on because of the answer you gave about your skin being affected only where the sandal straps are.
From what I have read, they say to avoid cotton socks, as while they do absorb moisture, they hold the persperation against your skin. They say an acrylic/wool blend will suit you better.
Here’s the page where I got this info:
http://www.wethersfield.net/html/fhs/pis/sweatyft.html
At the bottom there is contact information to this doc’s office. Apparently he deals a lot with these kinds of foot issues. He says to give him a call if you have a severe case. But I think it is key in your case - you need a shoe that lets your foot breathe, and wicks the moisture away from your foot, without hitting anything in the shoe that has chemicals that will cause the moisture leaving your foot to react and cause a rash. You need a totally organic (un-chemicaled), breathable sock and shoe. I lump the sock in there because your sweat going through the sock may react with chemicals in the sock, that react with the shoe and being trapped, make it bakc to your skin and cause the reaction.
That is what one of the many dermatologists told me - he actually advised that I wear hemp birkenstocks.
I thought that might be a problem, as I worked in the Pentagon at the time.
The security dogs already hate me, because of the constant smell of cordite on my clothes.
Hemp shoes or barefoot - I pick barefoot. Then I don’t have some police dog trying to chew me foot off. LOL.
No - that is freaking scary.
But I don’t think the test is indicated, because the symptoms follow classic eczema lines - when my feet break out, so do my hands.
too funny. Look at the photo in #42. The Presidential Crocs.
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