The Sunghir Pedal Skeletons

The Sunghir humans retain exceptionally complete pedal remains, especially for Sunghir 1 but also in large part for Sunghir 2 and 3 (chapter 4). The Sunghir 1 pedal remains articulate into two quite complete pedal skeletons, principally missing the middle and distal phalanges of the lesser toes. The Sunghir 2 and 3 pedal skeletons are similarly complete, although the toes were pointed upwards in situ, resulting in considerable loss of the pha­langes (chapters 3 and 4). However, given the thin cortical bone over their trabecular tarsal and epiphyseal cores, the bones are substantially more eroded than those of Sunghir 1. The assessments for the two immature pedal skeletons are primarily in terms of discrete traits, those that appear to have already been formed by their ages-at-death. There is also a dearth of comparative data for similarly aged Middle and Upper Paleolithic pedal remains, known principally for the early adolescent Paglicci 12 (Mallegni & Parenti 1973). However, there are extensive osteometric and discrete trait data available for mature pedal remains from Middle Paleolithic and Early/Mid Upper Paleolithic (E/MUP) human foot bones, largely following the Martin system but expanded and modified (e.g., Matiegka 1938; McCown and Keith 1939; Trinkaus 1975a, 1975b, 1983a, 1983b; Vandermeersch 1981; Sládek et al. 2000; Trinkaus et al. 2006a; Shang and Trinkaus 2010). Therefore, a number of aspects of the Sunghir 1 pedal remains are compared graphically and in terms of trait frequencies to Late Pleistocene comparative samples, as well as to background samples of recent humans. The proportions of the pedal skeleton can be of relevance for the biomechanical effectiveness of the foot during forward and/or upward propulsion. In a static model, in which the body is being raised by elevation of the heel, and by extension the tibia through the talocrural articulation, the fulcrum is at the metatarsal heads (especially of metatarsal 1). This applies to climbing and to forward propulsion of the body on a level or upward slope.