ArticleScientific reports2019
The unexpected importance of the fifth digit during stone tool production.
Article in Scientific reports, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- Peak pressure experienced by the human hand during suspension and vertical climbing.Biology open · 2026Article
- A Strong Supporter: Evidence for the Role of the Fifth Finger in Habitual Gripping Activity.American journal of biological anthropology · 2026Article
- Human dexterity and brains evolved hand in hand.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Phalangeal cortical bone distribution reveals different dexterous and climbing behaviors inScience advances · 2025Article
- The mind & muscles: Introducing a validated EEG/EMG protocol for recording cognitive-muscular interactions in experimental archaeology.PloS one · 2025Article
- Experimental insights into cognition, motor skills, and artistic expertise in Paleolithic art.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Variation and covariation of external shape and cross-sectional geometry in the human metacarpus.American journal of biological anthropology · 2024Article
- Design and development of a sensorized hammerstone for accurate force measurement in stone knapping experiments.PloS one · 2024Article
- Cortical bone distribution of the proximal phalanges in great apes: implications for reconstructing manual behaviours.Journal of anatomy · 2023Article
- Comparative physiological anthropogeny: exploring molecular underpinnings of distinctly human phenotypes.Physiological reviews · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Unique anatomical features of the human hand facilitate our ability to proficiently and forcefully perform precision grips and in-hand manipulation of objects. Extensive research has been conducted into the role of digits one to three during these manual behaviours, and the origin of the highly derived first digit anatomy that facilitates these capabilities. Stone tool production has long been thought a key influence in this regard. Despite previous research stressing the unique derived morphology of the human fifth digit little work has investigated why humans alone display these features. Here we examine the recruitment frequency, loading magnitude, and loading distribution of all digits on the non-dominant hand of skilled flintknappers during four technologically distinct types of Lower Palaeolithic stone tool production. Our data reveal the fifth digit to be heavily and frequently recruited during all studied behaviours. It occasionally incurred pressures, and was used in frequencies, greater or equal to those of the thumb, and frequently the same or greater than those of the index finger. The fifth digit therefore appears key to >2 million years of stone tool production activities, a behaviour that likely contributed to the derived anatomy observed in the modern human fifth ray.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.