This week MOLA osteologists have been studying the feet of a 19th-century Londoner, a woman who died
This week MOLA osteologists have been studying the feet of a 19th-century Londoner, a woman who died between the ages of 26-35 years. In both feet, the proximal and distal first phalanges (big toes) are not straight but angled laterally towards the other toes (not pictured).This is a condition called hallux valgus. Although it can occur in individuals who do not wear shoes, it is often associated with footwear featuring pointed toes. The fashion in modern urban populations of wearing ill-fitting, high-heeled shoes has led to a particular association of the condition with adolescent girls. Before the mechanisation of shoe manufacture in the later 19th century, it was common for the right and left shoes to be identical in form, increasing the chances of developing toe deformities. -- source link
#osteology#bioarchaeology#paleopathology#hallux valgus