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Variation in Mobility and Anatomical Responses in the Late Pleistocene

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Reconstructing Mobility

Abstract

Diachronic changes in European Late Pleistocene humans indicate anatomical changes in the lower limb associated with decreased mobility. A more global perspective suggests that similar trends toward reduced mobility occurred simultaneously in other parts of the Old World, but Late Pleistocene populations in non-European regions demonstrate significant variation in femoral and tibial cross-sectional geometric properties that are inconsistent with behavioral interpretations.

Samples of Late Pleistocene early modern humans from Europe, Northern Africa, and Asia are analyzed to assess regional variation in postcranial trends. Cross-sectional geometric properties for midshaft femora and tibiae and measures of articular surface areas and mechanical efficiency are evaluated between samples.

Regional Late Pleistocene samples are differentiated by measures of diaphyseal robusticity. Northern African samples are uniquely robust, particularly at the level of the midshaft tibia. Relative to other regional samples, the Asian sample has distinctly gracile femoral and tibial diaphyses. Although this may indicate reduced mobility, this sample also demonstrates relatively high mechanical efficiency at the knees and hips, which may point to an alternative mechanism for counteracting loading on the lower limbs from high mobility or terrain differences.

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Acknowledgments

I am grateful to Kris J. Carlson and Damiano Marchi for initiating the symposium leading to this collection of ideas on mobility. Thank you to two anonymous reviewers whose comments greatly improved this manuscript.

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  1. Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 607 S. Mathews Avenue, MC-148, 209L Davenport Hall, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA

    Laura L. Shackelford

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Correspondence to Laura L. Shackelford .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Kristian J. Carlson

  2. Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    Damiano Marchi

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Shackelford, L.L. (2014). Variation in Mobility and Anatomical Responses in the Late Pleistocene. In: Carlson, K., Marchi, D. (eds) Reconstructing Mobility. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7460-0_9

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