Investigating Other Causes for Stone Flake Features Attributed to Handedness

Homo sapiens is the only primate species that currently displays a population level preference for right hand dominance. Previous studies have attempted to establish methodologies to determine handedness from stone tool debris because of the link between handedness and brain lateralization of the classic language centers, and its implications for the evolution of language. However, these experimental studies have produced varied results, and it is questionable whether handedness can be accurately determined from flake features. We conducted an experiment in which 9 left-handed and 9 right-handed novice flintknappers were video recorded as they made simple stone tools similar to the Oldowan industry. We used this footage to code their flintknapping gestures, such as the angle of percussion and positioning of the core on the support, in order to test whether left- and right-handers differ in the flintknapping gestures they use to produce flakes. A Chi-Square test revealed that right-handed individuals are more likely to utilize a horizontal position of the core than left-handed individuals (p < 0.001). We explore the possibility that these flintknapping gestures, rather than the dominant, percussing hand, are responsible for the flake features that previous studies have attributed to handedness.