Provider: Moravian Museum, Brno, Czech Republic TY - JOUR JO - Anthropologie (Brno) TI - Evaluating and Improving Footprint Measurement: Orientation and Lengths AU - Webb D AU - Vicensotto BD AU - Hermenegildo T Y1 - 2006 VL - 44 IS - 3 PB - Moravian Museum, Brno, Czech Republic SN - 0323-1119 SP - 269 EP - 279 KW - Footprint measurement KW - Error analysis KW - Toe length KW - Foot angle N2 - N2 - This project was undertaken in order to develop a reliable technique for measuring foot angle, foot length and toe length. Two volunteers, one adult and one juvenile, made ink footprints on paper, and these were then photocopied many times to provide materials for testing observer errors. Various methods of making and measuring footprints are reviewed, and the most promising set of methods was evaluated in terms of inter-observer and intra-observer errors. After error analysis, the techniques were improved and retested, resulting in the production of a very reliable method of delineating a longitudinal axis of the foot. This axis became the basis from which to measure foot angle and foot length. A new technique for measuring toe length was also devised, one that refl ects the functional length of the forefoot and can be consistently measured by any observer. While many methods described in the literature are used without thorough testing, studies like this one will eventually provide us with a set of valid and consistently used standards for footprint analysis. ER -