Title |
Vergisson 4: a left‐handed Neandertal
|
---|---|
Published in |
American Journal of Physical Anthropology, September 2016
|
DOI | 10.1002/ajpa.23101 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Silvana Condemi, Janet Monge, Sylvain Quertelet, David W. Frayer, Jean Combier |
Abstract |
Handedness is an important marker for lateralization of humans in the modern and fossil record. For the most part, Neandertals and their ancestors are strongly right-handed. We describe a single tooth from a Neandertal level at Vergisson 4 (Vg 4-83). This left upper central incisor shows all the features typical of Neandertal incisors. It also exhibits a predominance of left-handed striations. Striations on the incisor's labial surface were mapped at 20x magnification using Photoshop. Angulations of the striations were determined from their deviation from the maximum mesio-distal line and were analyzed using NIH's freeware, Image J. Of the 60 labial surface striations, Vg 4-83 shows a strong predominance of left-handed striations (46; 76.7%), which are statistically significantly different (p < .001 with a two-tailed chi(2) test) from the small number (3) of right-handed striations. The identification of another left-handed Neandertal adds to our understanding about handedness variation in this fossil hominin. Given the high frequency of right-handed Neandertals, the 90: 10 modern ratio is still preserved in this group. |
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