Infant-carrying mechanisms in a natural environment: the case of Qashqai nomad

Anvari, Zohreh, Berillon, Gilles, D'Aout, Kristiaan ORCID: 0000-0002-6043-7744, Grimaud-Herve, Dominique and Rezaei, Mahtab (2024) Infant-carrying mechanisms in a natural environment: the case of Qashqai nomad EVOLUTIONARY HUMAN SCIENCES, 6. e36-. ISSN 2513-843X, 2513-843X

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Abstract

Infant carrying and more generally load carrying may impact bipedal locomotion and thus the energy cost of the daily activities, in living people but also in our ancestors. In order to improve our knowledge of infant carrying strategies we investigate the biomechanics of infant carrying in a non-mechanised group. The Qashqai are nomadic people who still carry loads and infants habitually without any daily assistance in varied natural environments. Our analysis focuses on the sagittal kinematics using a high-speed camera (joint angles, speed, position of the centre of mass) and kinetics (ground reaction forces and displacement of the centre of mass) using a six-degree of freedom force plate. We assessed the unloaded and loaded (infant) walking of 26 Qashqai women, living in the Fars province (Iran). The results demonstrate that different mechanisms of walking exist that are related to the mode of carrying and the weight of the infant, by which step length, walking speed and the lower limb angles are not affected. The displacement of the total centre of mass remains unchanged. This supports the hypothesis that the Qashqai have developed mechanisms of load carrying that limit the increase in energy consumption. This could be related to the usual high level of daily activity. Social media summary: Infant carrying mechanics in Qashqai women reveal how load impacts energy efficiency and walking in natural contexts.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Infant-carrying, nomads, women, kinematics, kinetics
Divisions:	Faculty of Health & Life Sciences Faculty of Health & Life Sciences > Inst. Life Courses & Medical Sciences
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	30 Oct 2024 10:22
Last Modified:	16 Jun 2026 20:03
DOI:	10.1017/ehs.2024.25
Related Websites:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3186357
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