Calcaneal spurs among San and Khoi skeletons.

Only few studies considered the prevalence of calcaneal enthesophytes commonly called heel spurs among historic skeleton samples. In the present study the frequency of plantar calcaneal spurs among 54 19(th) century Khoisan skeletons was analyzed. Five individuals (9.6 %) had a plantar calcaneal spur at the right side or left side. Calcaneal spurs were more likely to occur in older individuals. More than 20 % of the individuals aged between 40 and 60 years (mature) showed plantar spurs, while 6.2 % of the individuals aged between 20 and 40 years had plantar spurs; however this difference was not significant. No sex differences were present in the prevalence of calcaneal spurs. Male and female individuals did not differ in the metric dimensions of the calcanceal spurs significantly.