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A new study found Neanderthals had wider, sturdier heel bones, while modern footwear and sedentary life may have made our feet less rugged.
By Luis Prada
The scientific community has been making one fascinating discovery about Neanderthals after another of late, broadening our idea of an ancient human ancestor we once incorrectly assumed was so stupid that they became shorthand for primitive thinking. Today, we get word of yet another way Neanderthals were a heartier people than we give them credit for, but this time the evidence isn’t in their heads. It’s in their feet.
According to a study published in the Journal of Human Evolution, Neanderthals had way tougher heel bones than modern humans. Researchers compared seven Neanderthal calcanei (the heel bones) with 64 human examples ranging from prehistoric hunter-gatherers to modern Italians.
Neanderthal heels were generally shorter front-to-back, taller, and wider. This foot, which was bigger in every way, gave them better traction and hold across uneven terrain, as their feet were able to tilt and rock from side to side to adjust for unpredictable obstacles, which was useful for stocky, heavy folks who didn’t have the luxury of walking on paved roads and sidewalks.
The interesting find is that the heel bones of ancient humans weren’t all that different from Neanderthal heel bones, but over time, our feet got weaker and less useful thanks to sedentary lifestyles and shoes. The researchers say rigid footwear helped make our feet more graceful but less able to withstand the rigors of the great outdoors, which may explain why you scream and shake an angry fist at the gods above when you step on a Lego.
I wasn’t the only factor that influenced our bone development. Nutrition and environment played big roles, along with genetics. There’s also the matter that Neanderthals are just fundamentally built differently, with sturdier skeletons that needed sturdier foundations. The differences were already baked in, but shoes, it seems, just widened the gap, making us less likely to traverse a landscape barefoot than our distant Neanderthal cousins.
At least we get to wear cool sneakers because of it.
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