Skeletal Biology, Functional Asymmetry and the Origins of “Handedness”

The past decade has witnessed the (re)emergence of a debate as to whether handedness is apomorphic within hominins. There are both qualitative and quantitative arguments, some which draw non-human primates into the handed sphere and others which exclude them. Ultimate questions concern origins of st...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of theoretical biology 2002-09, Vol.218 (1), p.129-138
Main Author: LAZENBY, RICHARD A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Bone Remodeling - physiology
Dominance, Cerebral - physiology
Functional Laterality - physiology
Humans
Models, Biological
Paleontology
Primates - physiology
Psychomotor Performance - physiology
Stress, Mechanical
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Summary:The past decade has witnessed the (re)emergence of a debate as to whether handedness is apomorphic within hominins. There are both qualitative and quantitative arguments, some which draw non-human primates into the handed sphere and others which exclude them. Ultimate questions concern origins of structural asymmetry of both brain and body and lateralized behaviours with implications for tool use and language. Lateralization is thus an important realm of phylogenetic study, and archaeologists and psychologists alike have sought to identify handedness within material culture. However, hand preference for tool manufacture and use among extant non-human primates, such as Cebus and Pan, suggests that the archaeological record may well be mute regarding the origins of laterality. In this paper, an argument is put forward positioning skeletal biology as a viable approach to the handedness origins issue. Behaviour is a mediator of the complementary processes of geometric modelling (change in size and shape) and histological remodelling (disuse osteopenia; microfracture repair); therefore, directional asymmetry in the pattern of skeletal modelling and remodelling is a putative signal of lateralized activity.
ISSN:0022-5193
1095-8541
DOI:10.1006/jtbi.2002.3052