Swift and sure-footed on the Savanna: A study of Hadzabe gaits and feet in Northern Tanzania.

Abstract

Data on footprints and gait of 54 Hadzabe, 6-70 years of age expand understanding of pedal morphology of unshod people and assist the development of ideas about the evolution of hominid bipedality and upright posture. Contrary to published data on gaits and pedal morphology of unshod populations, Hadzabe (also known as Hadza) from northern Tanzania exhibit values of stride length, relative stride length, and walking speeds that exceed those of rural and small-town populations. In all observable plantar features, including foot indices, an interdigital space between the hallux and second toe, fanning of the foot anteriorly, and foot angles (in-toeing and out-toeing), Hadzabe feet are comparable with those of never-shod Machiguengas in Perú. On average, Hadzabe hallucal gaps and ball widths are narrower than those of Machiguengas and other unshod short people. Hadzabe feet are also characterized by valgus halluces versus the varus halluces of never-shod Machiguengas and certain West Africans. Although characterized by a valgus toe, Hadzabe hallucal angles, which do not exceed 20°, are lower than those of Northern Hemispheric urbanites and shod rural populations of the Southern and Northern Hemispheres. Hadzabe also exhibit less medial and lateral rotation of the hip joint than Machiguengas do. The heel and the longitudinal arch impressions of the Hadzabe footprints closely resemble those of the Laetoli bipeds in the manner of weight distribution during locomotion. The striking similarity of footprint impressions, especially the heel and the longitudinal arch, between Hadzabe and Laetoli hominid footprints clearly imply that the pedal features of the Laetoli printmakers are remarkably humanoid. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 9:303-321, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.