Ancestral Puebloan Running and Walking Biomechanics

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Running is an important, and even sacred, cultural practice among modern Indigenous peoples of the western North America and has deep roots in prehistory. Oral history and limited archaeological evidence suggest that running was important in ceremonial contexts, communication between communities, in hunting practices, and warfare. However, the prehistoric prevalence and participation rates in running are poorly documented due to a paucity of direct evidence preserved in the archaeological record. Additionally, biomechanics of ancient minimally-shod runners are not well-documented. Our paper presents data from an on-going experimental archaeology and human subjects study aimed at reconstructing the biomechanics of running and walking using replicas of prehistoric yucca fiber sandals. Motion capture data, paired with data from instrumented insoles and treadmills, collected from minimalist runners running and walking while wearing replica yucca fiber sandals are used to generate use-wear predictions. These predictions regarding wear accrued during running and walking are then compared to use-wear patterns analyzed from 3D scans taken from the Natural History Museum of Utah’s collection of ~375 prehistoric yucca fiber sandals from across the Great Basin, Colorado Plateau, and Southwest to generate predictions regarding the running and walking biomechanics of the prehistoric occupants of those regions.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36639.0