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Vergisson 4: a left-handed Neandertal
Silvana Condemi1, Janet Monge2, Sylvain Quertelet3
1UMR 7268-ADÉS (Anthropologie bio-culturelle, Droit, Éthique and Santé), CNRS/Université d'Aix-Marseille/EFS, Faculté de Médecine-Secteur Nord, Marseille Cédex 15, France.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology
|September 23, 2016
Summary
A Neandertal incisor from Vergisson 4 exhibits predominantly left-handed striations, adding to the understanding of handedness variation in fossil hominins. This finding highlights diversity within Neandertal populations regarding handedness.
Area of Science:
- Paleoanthropology
- Human Evolution
- Skeletal Biology
Background:
- Handedness is a key indicator of brain lateralization in humans, evident in both modern and fossil records.
- Neandertals and their ancestors are predominantly characterized as right-handed.
- Understanding handedness variation provides insights into cognitive and behavioral patterns of extinct hominins.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze handedness in a Neandertal fossil using dental striations.
- To investigate the prevalence of left-handedness in a specific Neandertal individual.
Main Methods:
- Microscopic analysis of striations on a Neandertal incisor (Vg 4-83).
- Digital mapping and angulation measurement of labial surface striations using Photoshop and Image J software.
- Statistical analysis (chi-squared test) to determine the significance of handedness prevalence.
Main Results:
- The analyzed Neandertal incisor (Vg 4-83) displayed a significant predominance of left-handed striations (76.7%).
- Out of 60 mapped striations, 46 indicated left-handedness, compared to only 3 indicating right-handedness.
- This finding is statistically significant (p < .001).
Conclusions:
- The discovery of another left-handed Neandertal contributes to the understanding of handedness diversity in this species.
- Despite this finding, the overall pattern in Neandertals likely still reflects a high frequency of right-handedness, aligning with modern human ratios.
- This research underscores the importance of individual variation within fossil hominin populations.
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