Foot bones and tendons. Historical artwork of a human foot that has been dissected to reveal its bones and tendons. There are 26 bones in a human foot, with a large number of ligaments (bands of fibrous tissue) holding them together. Tendons are the structures connecting muscles to bone, here passing through the ankle to connect the foot and ankle bones to muscles in the foot and leg. Only one of the tendons (that of the big toe) has been left intact by the dissection.