Scientists assure: our extinct ancestors could work with pinpoint precision.
Clumsy and crooked - such as many people think were Neanderthals - representatives of an extinct human species. An unflattering opinion of them was formed by the majority of scientists, who believed that these lugs were not capable of performing delicate work - only rough ones. Due to problems with fine motor skills - due to the fact that their hands were not suitable for precise manipulation.
It was believed that the Neanderthals were only capable of rough work.
The clumsiness of the Neanderthals was questioned by German paleontologists from the University of Tübingen (Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen), led by Katerina Croatian, and their Swiss colleagues from the University of Basel (Integrative Prehistory and Archaelological Science), University of Basel. Scientists were haunted by some finds from Neanderthal sites - objects with traces of very delicate processing.
Some Neanderthal crafts, such as scrapers, were very finely crafted.
Researchers point out that the so-called "rough capture" is enough for rough activity. This is when an instrument - a club or an ax - is squeezed with almost the whole palm. Fine work requires a “precise grip”. Namely, the ability to hold some small tool with our fingers - similar to how we hold a pencil.
It was believed that our immediate ancestors - tall and slender Cro-Magnons - had a "precise grip." And the stocky and broad-boned Neanderthals were only capable of a "rough grip." And if they did anything, then "tyap-blooper" - in a big way.
The sleight of hand of the Neanderthals required proof.
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In a study presented by the popular publication The Conversation and the scientific Science Advances, paleontologists prove that the bones of the hands of the Neanderthals were designed in such a way that they allowed almost everyone to do delicate work.
Scientists came to this conclusion by studying enthesis - a kind of bumps on the bones to which muscles are attached. For a "rough grip" you need some muscles, for a "precise" one - others. Therefore, in those who work on rough work, the muscles of the "rough grip" are mainly strained and the corresponding entheses increase. In the case of “jewelers”, the opposite is true: entheses intended for muscles of “precise grip” become larger.
At the disposal of paleontologists were six Neanderthal brushes. They have been compared to the remains of the Cro-Magnons. Surprisingly, all the Neanderthals turned out to be smart guys - they all had bumps that testified to the prevalence of "precise capture". And our immediate ancestors acted this way and that - they will roughly grab onto something, then for sure.
Brush: red bumps for a "rough grip", blue for a "fine". Neanderthals have more developed blues.
According to scientists, Neanderthals were individualists. And Homo sapiens has established a division of labor since ancient times - depending on abilities. Some performed primitive work, requiring mostly only strength, others - those who had more developed "precise grip", trusted something more complicated.
Illustration from a scientific article.
VLADIMIR LAGOVSKY