"How handy was early hominin 'know-how'?" An experimental approach exploring efficient early stone tool use.

Autor: Eteson B; DFG Center for Advanced Studies 'Words, Bones, Genes, Tools', Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany., Affinito S; DFG Center for Advanced Studies 'Words, Bones, Genes, Tools', Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany., Moos ET; Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, Tübingen, Germany., Karakostis FA; DFG Center for Advanced Studies 'Words, Bones, Genes, Tools', Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.; Paleoanthropology, Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.; Integrative Prehistory and Archaeological Science, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: American journal of biological anthropology [Am J Biol Anthropol] 2024 Nov; Vol. 185 (3), pp. e25019. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Sep 02.
DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.25019
Abstrakt: Objectives: The appearance of early lithic industries has been associated with the gradual development of unique biomechanical and cognitive abilities in hominins, including human-like precision grasping and basic learning and/or communicating capacities. These include tools used for activities exclusively associated with hominin contexts (cutting flakes) and hammerstones utilized for behaviors shared with non-human primates (e.g., nut-cracking). However, no previous experimental research has focused on comparing the factors affecting efficiency between these two key behavioral patterns and their evolutionary implications.
Materials and Methods: Here, we address this gap with an experimental design involving participants with varying tool-related experience levels (i.e., no experience, theoretical-only experience, and extensive practical knapping expertise) to monitor their success rates, biometrics, and surface electromyography (sEMG) recordings from eight important hand and forearm muscles.
Results: Our results showed that practical experience had a substantial impact on flake-cutting efficiency, allowing participants to achieve greater success rates with substantially less muscle effort. This relationship between success rates and muscle effort was not observed for the nut-cracking task. Moreover, even though practical experience did not significantly benefit nut-cracking success, experts exhibited increased rates of self-improvement in that task.
Discussion: Altogether, these experimental findings suggest that the ability to practice and retain tool-using knowledge played a fundamental role in the subsistence strategies and adaptability of early hominins, potentially providing the cognitive basis for conceptualizing the first intentional tool production strategies.
(© 2024 The Author(s). American Journal of Biological Anthropology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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