Journal of anthropological sciences = Rivista di antropologia : JASS, 2008
Population-level right-handedness is a defining characteristic of humans. Despite extensive resea... more Population-level right-handedness is a defining characteristic of humans. Despite extensive research, we still do not know the conditions or timing of its emergence in human evolution. We present a review of research into the origins of handedness, based on fossil and archaeological data for hand preference and great ape hand-use. The data show that skeletal asymmetries in arm and hand bones supporting a rightsided dominance were present at least in the genus Homo, although data are more robust for Neanderthals. The evidence from tool-use, production, and cave art confirms that right-hand preference was established in Neanderthals and was maintained until the present. The great apes can provide real-life models for testing the conditions that facilitate or enhance hand preference at both the individual and group levels. The database on great ape hand-use indicates that they do exhibit hand preferences, especially in complex tasks. However, their preferences vary between tasks, and w...
The population-level preference for the use of the right hand is one of the defining characterist... more The population-level preference for the use of the right hand is one of the defining characteristics of Homo sapiens and as such, its evolutionary origins within the human genus remain a topic of interest. Identifying hand preference in extinct hominin species is complicated by the difficulty in distinguishing markers of laterality in the bones of the upper limb. These difficulties are further compounded by the range of osteological methods available to study asymmetry and the under-representation of the bones of the hand in such studies. To better understand the evolution of handedness within the hominin lineage, the effect of methodology on asymmetry expression must first be clarified, as this in turn influences our notions of handedness in individuals and groups. The current study took an inclusive approach to the measurement of upper limb asymmetry in both modern human and non-human primate samples. To assess the contribution that the bones of the hand can make to asymmetry rese...
The story of human evolution during the Quaternary Period is primarily the story of one genus, Ho... more The story of human evolution during the Quaternary Period is primarily the story of one genus, Homo. At the start of the Quaternary, the first members of the human genus were evolving in Africa, and over the subsequent 2 My, Homo has developed and expanded to colonize every corner of the globe. The Quaternary Period has seen the evolution of the genus Homo from its earliest, more ape-like ancestors, to the fully modern Homo sapiens that are known today. These first hominins emerged from the melee of species that existed at this time and slowly gained adaptive advantages over their contemporaries, through the modification of their environment. This article deals with this unique transition, and as such, earlier genera such as Australopithecus , Paranthropus , and Ardipithecus are not included in this discussion.
Population-level right-handedness is a defining characteristic of humans. Despite extensive resea... more Population-level right-handedness is a defining characteristic of humans. Despite extensive research, we still do not know the conditions or timing of its emergence in human evolution. We present a review of research into the origins of handedness, based on fossil and archaeological data for hand preference and great ape hand-use. The data show that skeletal asymmetries in arm and hand bones supporting a right-sided dominance were present at least in the genus Homo, although data are more robust for Neanderthals. The evidence from tool-use, production, and cave art confirms that right-hand preference was established in Neanderthals and was maintained until the present. The great apes can provide real-life models for testing the conditions that facilitate or enhance hand preference at both the individual and group levels. The database on great ape hand-use indicates that they do exhibit hand preferences, especially in complex tasks. However, their preferences vary between tasks, and while group-level biases have occasionally been reported, no human-like handedness bias has been found. We discuss the methodological problems encountered in these approaches. Shared problems include a lack of agreed terminology both within and between disciplines, small sample sizes, interpretation biases and a failure to replicate experiments. In general, there is a paucity of fossil material, with poor preservation hampering traditional metric methods. The archaeological data are often founded on unreliable methods. The primate database is plagued by the use of measures that could be inappropriate for revealing hand preference, and by methodological inconsistencies between studies. We emphasise the need to standardise the methods to allow between studies and species comparisons. We propose that when referring to 'handedness' it is more appropriate to use the terms 'hand preference' and 'hand use' , to avoid confusion with each discipline's own definition of handedness.
Journal of anthropological sciences = Rivista di antropologia : JASS, 2008
Population-level right-handedness is a defining characteristic of humans. Despite extensive resea... more Population-level right-handedness is a defining characteristic of humans. Despite extensive research, we still do not know the conditions or timing of its emergence in human evolution. We present a review of research into the origins of handedness, based on fossil and archaeological data for hand preference and great ape hand-use. The data show that skeletal asymmetries in arm and hand bones supporting a rightsided dominance were present at least in the genus Homo, although data are more robust for Neanderthals. The evidence from tool-use, production, and cave art confirms that right-hand preference was established in Neanderthals and was maintained until the present. The great apes can provide real-life models for testing the conditions that facilitate or enhance hand preference at both the individual and group levels. The database on great ape hand-use indicates that they do exhibit hand preferences, especially in complex tasks. However, their preferences vary between tasks, and w...
The population-level preference for the use of the right hand is one of the defining characterist... more The population-level preference for the use of the right hand is one of the defining characteristics of Homo sapiens and as such, its evolutionary origins within the human genus remain a topic of interest. Identifying hand preference in extinct hominin species is complicated by the difficulty in distinguishing markers of laterality in the bones of the upper limb. These difficulties are further compounded by the range of osteological methods available to study asymmetry and the under-representation of the bones of the hand in such studies. To better understand the evolution of handedness within the hominin lineage, the effect of methodology on asymmetry expression must first be clarified, as this in turn influences our notions of handedness in individuals and groups. The current study took an inclusive approach to the measurement of upper limb asymmetry in both modern human and non-human primate samples. To assess the contribution that the bones of the hand can make to asymmetry rese...
The story of human evolution during the Quaternary Period is primarily the story of one genus, Ho... more The story of human evolution during the Quaternary Period is primarily the story of one genus, Homo. At the start of the Quaternary, the first members of the human genus were evolving in Africa, and over the subsequent 2 My, Homo has developed and expanded to colonize every corner of the globe. The Quaternary Period has seen the evolution of the genus Homo from its earliest, more ape-like ancestors, to the fully modern Homo sapiens that are known today. These first hominins emerged from the melee of species that existed at this time and slowly gained adaptive advantages over their contemporaries, through the modification of their environment. This article deals with this unique transition, and as such, earlier genera such as Australopithecus , Paranthropus , and Ardipithecus are not included in this discussion.
Population-level right-handedness is a defining characteristic of humans. Despite extensive resea... more Population-level right-handedness is a defining characteristic of humans. Despite extensive research, we still do not know the conditions or timing of its emergence in human evolution. We present a review of research into the origins of handedness, based on fossil and archaeological data for hand preference and great ape hand-use. The data show that skeletal asymmetries in arm and hand bones supporting a right-sided dominance were present at least in the genus Homo, although data are more robust for Neanderthals. The evidence from tool-use, production, and cave art confirms that right-hand preference was established in Neanderthals and was maintained until the present. The great apes can provide real-life models for testing the conditions that facilitate or enhance hand preference at both the individual and group levels. The database on great ape hand-use indicates that they do exhibit hand preferences, especially in complex tasks. However, their preferences vary between tasks, and while group-level biases have occasionally been reported, no human-like handedness bias has been found. We discuss the methodological problems encountered in these approaches. Shared problems include a lack of agreed terminology both within and between disciplines, small sample sizes, interpretation biases and a failure to replicate experiments. In general, there is a paucity of fossil material, with poor preservation hampering traditional metric methods. The archaeological data are often founded on unreliable methods. The primate database is plagued by the use of measures that could be inappropriate for revealing hand preference, and by methodological inconsistencies between studies. We emphasise the need to standardise the methods to allow between studies and species comparisons. We propose that when referring to 'handedness' it is more appropriate to use the terms 'hand preference' and 'hand use' , to avoid confusion with each discipline's own definition of handedness.
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