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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. Related Links: |
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