Skeletal evidence for variable patterns of handedness in chimpanzees, human hunter–gatherers, and recent British populations

Stock, Jay T.; Shirley, Meghan K.; Sarringhaus, Lauren; Davies, Tom; Shaw, Colin N.

doi:10.1111/nyas.12067

Cited by 25 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 109 publications

(277 reference statements)

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“…Our findings complement previous studies about shaft cross-section (Cuk et al, 2001;Auerbach and Ruff, 2006;Stock et al, 2013). These authors concluded that the diaphysis is the most asymmetric region in the humerus in response to physical activity, because in the shaft higher mechanical stresses provoke greater muscle pressures in the bone, causing an increase in cortical bone (Cuk et al, 2001;Auerbach and Ruff, 2006;Stock et al, 2013). Therefore physical activity causes an increase in the thickness of the cortical bone in the diaphysis, but the shape of the shaft can be explained by size.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…These results show that the relative length of the muscle attachments depends on shaft size: when the shaft is greater, the muscle attachment will be longer. Our findings complement previous studies about shaft cross-section (Cuk et al, 2001;Auerbach and Ruff, 2006;Stock et al, 2013). These authors concluded that the diaphysis is the most asymmetric region in the humerus in response to physical activity, because in the shaft higher mechanical stresses provoke greater muscle pressures in the bone, causing an increase in cortical bone (Cuk et al, 2001;Auerbach and Ruff, 2006;Stock et al, 2013).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

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Humeral laterality in modern humans and Neanderthals: a 3D geometric morphometric analysis

Pérez-Criado

Rosas

Bastir

et al. 2017

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Approximately 90% of anatomically modern humans (AMHs) are right-handed. This handedness is related to laterality patterns of the upper limb due to habitual activity patterns which are known to leave marks on the bone structure. Various studies have shown that Neanderthals were also right-handed in very similar proportions to AMHs. Here, for the first time, 3D geometric morphometric techniques are used to study humeral laterality in a Spanish modern human population and to make a comparative study with a Neanderthal sample. Results obtained in the modern human population show a larger right humerus and clear differences in shape laterality. Shape differences in both epiphyses and in the complete humerus could be caused by non-allometric factors. This could suggest different activity pattern in both arms during life. Shaft shape laterality could be explained by allometric factors, i.e. shape variability is related to size variability. Neanderthals show a larger right humerus compared to the left and the mean shape comparison with the common anatomical regions presents a non-significant result. Finally, olecranon fossa width is the only feature that clearly differs between modern humans and Neanderthals, with geometric morphometric and linear measures being wider on the Neanderthal left side and wider on the modern human population right side. This difference may be due to a combination of different factors and behaviors that involve complete extension of the elbow joint.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Humeral laterality in modern humans and Neanderthals: a 3D geometric morphometric analysis

Pérez-Criado

Rosas

Bastir

et al. 2017

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“…Percent directional asymmetry provides a measure of both the magnitude of asymmetry and its direction: positive %DA indicates relative hypertrophy in the right humerus compared to the left, and vice versa when %DA is negative. Following Stock and colleagues [107], a 0% cut-off was used to determine right-bias frequencies for TA and J ; Auerbach and Ruff [30] showed that similar results were found when 0%, 0.5%, or 1% DA was used as a cut-off distinguishing handedness from fluctuating asymmetry. However, three individuals with very low asymmetry (one Iron Age Brno-Maloměřice male, and two Bronze Age females from Ostojićevo and Brno-Tuřany) were slightly negative in one property but slightly positive in the other, resulting in different percentages of right-bias for TA and J .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Divergence in Male and Female Manipulative Behaviors with the Intensification of Metallurgy in Central Europe

2014

Self Cite

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Humeral morphology has been shown to reflect, in part, habitual manipulative behaviors in humans. Among Central European agricultural populations, long-term social change, increasing task specialization, and technological innovation all had the potential to impact patterns of habitual activity and upper limb asymmetry. However, systematic temporal change in the skeletal morphology of agricultural populations in this region has not been well-characterized. This study investigates diachronic patterns in humeral biomechanical properties and lengths among 174 adult Central European agriculturalists through the first ∼5400 years of farming in the region. Greater asymmetry in biomechanical properties was expected to accompany the introduction of metallurgy, particularly in males, while upper limb loading patterns were expected to be more similar between the Bronze and Iron Ages. Results revealed a divergence in the lateralization of upper limb biomechanical properties by sex between the Early/Middle Neolithic and Early/Middle Bronze Age. Neolithic females had significantly more variable properties than males in both humeri, while Bronze Age female properties became homogeneous and very symmetrical relative to the right-biased lateralization of contemporaneous males. The Bronze Age to Iron Age transition was associated with morphological change among females, with a significant increase in right-biased asymmetry and a concomitant reduction in sexual dimorphism. Relative to biomechanical properties, humeral length variation and asymmetry were low though some significant sexual dimorphism and temporal change was found. It was among females that the lateralization of humeral biomechanical properties, and variation within them, changed most profoundly through time. This suggests that the introduction of the ard and plow, metallurgical innovation, task specialization, and socioeconomic change through ∼5400 years of agriculture impacted upper limb loading in Central European women to a greater extent than men.

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“…Skeletal robusticity, or relative bone strength, is largely responsive to patterns of habitual activity during life, leading to a correlation between bone morphology and patterns of activity (Ruff, 2008). The underlying biological mechanism for bone functional adaptation is complex (Pearson and Lieberman, 2004), however there is significant evidence that mechanical loading influences the distribution of cortical bone in long bone diaphyses (Robling et al, 2000;Ruff et al, 2006;Stock, 2009a, 2009b;Stock et al, 2013). The most commonly used method of analysis of long bone robusticity uses engineering formulae for hollow beams to estimate the mechanical performance of bones based on the distribution of cortical bone in diaphyseal cross-sections to calculate strength properties which are standardized to body mass prior to comparison (Larsen, 1997;Ruff, 2000).…”

Section: Skeletal Biomechanicsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Lower limb biomechanics and habitual mobility among mid-Holocene populations of the Cis-Baikal

Stock

Macintosh

2016

Quaternary International

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a b s t r a c tThe mid-Holocene hunteregatherer populations of the Cis-Baikal represent long-term occupation by the Early Neolithic Kitoi Culture (6800e4900 B.C.) and the Middle Neolithic and Bronze Age Isakovo, Serovo and Glazkovo (ISG) cultures (4200e1000 B.C.). While there is considerable evidence for cultural and genetic discontinuity between these populations, differences in habitual activity between these periods remain poorly understood. The current study uses cross sectional geometric (CSG) properties of the femur and tibia in the lower limb, to investigate variation in mechanical loading and terrestrial locomotion between the Kitoi and ISG cultural groups. The results demonstrate a significant decrease in femoral rigidity and a trend towards more circular femoral diaphyses among the later ISG groups which suggests that there was a significant decrease in terrestrial mobility across this transition. This trend is accompanied by significant declines in tibial rigidity among females, resulting in greater sexual dimorphism among the ISG than the Kitoi. This indicates a shift towards a sexual division of labour which involved greater sedentism of the ISG than Kitoi women. Overall, the results suggest that shifts in habitual activity throughout the mid-Holocene of the Cis-Baikal involved both increased sedentism, and an increase in sexual differences in logistical mobility.

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Skeletal evidence for variable patterns of handedness in chimpanzees, human hunter–gatherers, and recent British populations

Cited by 25 publications

References 109 publications

Humeral laterality in modern humans and Neanderthals: a 3D geometric morphometric analysis

Humeral laterality in modern humans and Neanderthals: a 3D geometric morphometric analysis

Divergence in Male and Female Manipulative Behaviors with the Intensification of Metallurgy in Central Europe

Lower limb biomechanics and habitual mobility among mid-Holocene populations of the Cis-Baikal

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