Abstract
Examination of the Laetoli hominid footprints has already lead to a diversity of opinion on different topics. Recent reconstruction of the locomotor apparatus of australopithecines led to the hypothesis that their locomotor repertoire included a significant proportion of arboreal activity. While the structure of the foot of the earliest hominids may be partially gleaned from the study of its preserved skeletal parts from sites in Eastern and Southern Africa, such fossils lack information about the weight transfer during progression.
The most important external force that acts on the body during progression is the force exerted on the ground. This force is due to the reaction to gravity and to the momentary acceleration of the body. The relative distribution of pressure between the lateral and the medial portions of the foot is a crucial matter, not only for the functioning of the foot, but also for interpreting the fossil footprints fixed in the ash layers at Laetoli. In bipedal movement the fore-limb is no longer used to support against gravity or to accelerate the body. The forward swing of the arm contributes angular momentum to neutralize partially that of the advancing leg of the opposite side. The arms do not behave as pendulums in typical walking, but are subject to muscle action. The swinging of the arms is consequently not a purely incidental accompaniment of forward movement, but is an integral part of the dynamics of progression.
Consequently, we analysed the weight transfer of an individual in walking normally and also in walking with different constraints on arm and trunk motion during bipedal locomotion. The differences in the course of the gravitational force in the footprint can give some insight for the particular footprint morphology in the Laetoli tracks.
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Schmid, P. (2004). Functional Interpretation of the Laetoli Footprints. In: Meldrum, D.J., Hilton, C.E. (eds) From Biped to Strider. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8965-9_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8965-9_4
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