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The bones of the hand with the muscular attachment for the two handles shown. Blue: Precision, red: power. Credit: Copyright Katerina Harvati, University of Tübingen
Until recently, Neanderthals were often thought of as simple savages, powerful hunters with limited attention capacity. But in recent years, scientists have realized that they were far more refined than we thought – able to take care of vulnerable people, bury their dead and even adorn themselves with feathers and of pearls.
Now new evidence, published in Scientists progress, reveals that Neanderthals were also closer to modern humans in their physical expression than previously thought. The study, which analyzed the bones of Neanderthal hands and arms, reveals that these people did not rely primarily on strength in their daily activities – they used precision grips like us.
The remarkable discoveries were made possible by a new approach of researching and decoding the tiny marks left on the skeletal remains by the muscular attachments of the fingers and individual thumbs. It has been known for several decades that the skeleton responds to the forces resulting from the habitual use of muscles throughout life, the bones becoming more robust at points of increased tension.
And therefore, you can compare Neanderthal injuries and areas of distinct skeletal robustness to modern data. One of these earlier studies revealed that the skeletal lesions of Neanderthals were similar to those of professional riders. The authors suggested that this may have been due to the fact that hunting at Neanderthal involved close shootings – forcing them to hang on to their weapon while an injured animal was struggling.
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Levalloisian lithic technology. Credit: Didier Descouens / wikipedia, CC BY-SA
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In the new study, researchers studied modern comparative skeletal data from 50 (a hope and presume) of modern human posthumous donors wanting their bodies to scientific research. They all had a well-documented history of life, although the precise origin of the sample was not presented. One group had a professional background interpreted as involving force grips – masons, masons and carpenters. The other group had been involved in less intensive manual work, requiring more precision, including tailors, shoemakers, carpenters, a writer and a painter.
The resulting statistical analysis was exemplary, providing a framework that linked certain combinations of skeletal marks to heavy work and lighter work, respectively. The assumptions underlying the selection of groups may, however, be questioned – stonecutters and carpenters may also use manual precision.
However, the results were intriguing and the researchers compared them with archaeological data from six remains of Neanderthals and six modern human specimens. The results were very clear for the Neanderthal sample. All the skeletons showed strong and consistent similarities with the modern precision group. Surprisingly, the results were less clear for the modern human sample. Only three specimens corresponded to this group. Two of them were rather related to the heavy work group and the results were ambiguous for the other.
The surprise here is not that the Neanderthals showed an adaptation involving manual dexterity and precision, but rather that it should have been a question of doubt.
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Levalloisian lithic technology, often used by Neanderthals to produce a range of finished flake products of a predetermined shape, would require both a modern human cognitive ability to design it and a great manual dexterity to achieve it.
This work continues the trend, over the last decades, of making Neanderthals complex beings in the human family. Clearly, these individuals have negotiated their social and cultural worlds through brain power and technological sophistication.
Perhaps the mixed results for the first modern human sample are even more important. Here we have indubitable members of the human family who fail to demonstrate the usual use of precision seizure during their lifetime. How can we explain that? This suggests that these ancestors would have been more specialized in terms of work than Neanderthals. There could have been a social stratification in Upper Paleolithic society of modern humanity at the beginning of the time, in which people had different occupations and status.
However, the sample was quite small, so more research would be needed to address this issue. The next step will be to apply these techniques to new materials in larger quantities and perhaps with a finer base of comparative material.
Overall, however, it is a valuable and solid research work that reinforces what should now be the wide acceptance of Neanderthals as complex and sensitive beings equivalent to ourselves.
Explore more:
Neanderthal Nose: So much better to breathe
More information:
"Precise proofs in the daily activities of Neanderthal" Scientists progress (2018). avances.sciencemag.org/content/4/9/eaat2369
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