Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Energy Cost of Stone Knapping

  • Published:
Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Stone tool manufacture and use are considered key adaptations in human evolution. The understanding of the biomechanical features and anatomical constraints of hominins during stone tool production have received increased attention in recent years. Similarly, research on the cognitive capabilities and manipulative complexity involved in toolmaking is in progress. However, data on the palaeophysiological constraints of stone knapping are scarce. The balance between energy acquisition and energy expenditure is a key factor to determine the fitness of any individual, and stone knapping is essential for resource procurement in any Palaeolithic society. Thus, the combination of energetic analyses and experimental archaeology provides an excellent tool to improve our understanding of prehistoric behaviours. Here, we present experimental research on the energetics of stone tool production that involves nine experienced subjects. Each subject produced three handaxes through direct hard- and soft-hammer percussion in a total of 27 experiments of toolmaking. All knappers were described by their anthropometric data, and their energetic expenditure was monitored in a breath-by-breath indirect calorimetry procedure. Because knapping is considered a light-intensity level activity, based on its MET (Metabolic Equivalent Task of Intensity) value, our results show some differences in net energy expenditure between direct hard percussion and soft percussion knapping during the configuration of a handaxe. Furthermore, our results suggest that the brachial index of the subjects represents an anatomical constraint for stone knapping because the lever of a shorter forearm reduces energy expenditure during striking and represents an advantage during handaxe production. Differences in the energetic efficiency of knapping, even if they are low, may increase the general fitness of the individual and, indeed, its survival.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ainsworth, B. E., Haskell, W. L., Whitt, M. C., Irwin, M. L., Swartz, A. M., Strath, S. J., O'Brien, W. L., Basett, D. R., Schmitz, K. H., Emplaincourt, P. O., Jacobs, D. R., & Leon, A. S. (2000). Compendium of physical activities: an update of activity codes and MET intensities. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 32(9; SUPP/1), S498–S504.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ambrose, S. H. (2001). Paleolithic technology and human evolution. Science, 291(5509), 1748–1753.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arsuaga, J. L., Carretero, J.-M., Lorenzo, C., Gómez-Olivencia, A., Pablos, A., Rodríguez, L., García-González, R., Bonmatí, A., Quam, R. M., Pantoja-Pérez, A., Martínez, I., Aranburu, A., Gracia-Téllez, A., Poza-Rey, E., Sala, N., García, N., Alcázar de Velasco, A., Cuenca-Bescós, G., Bermúdez de Castro, J. M., & Carbonell, E. (2015). Postcranial morphology of the middle Pleistocene humans from Sima de los Huesos, Spain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(37), 11524–11529.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bird, D. W., & O'Connell, J. F. (2006). Behavioral ecology and archaeology. Journal of Archaeological Research, 14, 143–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biryukova, E. V., Bril, B., Dietrich, G., Roby-Brami, A., Kulikov, M. A., & Molchanov, P. E. (2005). The organization of arm kinematic synergies: the case of stone-bead knapping in Khambhat. In Stone knapping: the necessary conditions for a uniquely hominin behaviour (pp. 73–89). Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bleed, P., & Bleed, A. (1987). Energetic efficiency and hand tool design: a performance comparison of push and pull stroke saws. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 6, 189–197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bril, B., Rein, R., Nonaka, T., Wenban-Smith, F., & Dietrich, G. (2010). The role of expertise in tool use: skill differences in functional action adaptations to task constraints. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 36(4), 825–839.

    Google Scholar 

  • Byrne, R. W. (2005). The maker not the tool: The cognitive significance of great ape manual skill. In V. Roux & B. Bril (Eds.), Stone knapping: the necessary conditions for a uniquely hominid behaviour (pp. 53–71). Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carbonell, E., & Mosquera, M. (2006). The emergence of a symbolic behaviour: the sepulchral pit of Sima de los Huesos, Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain. Comptes Rendus Palevol, 5, 155–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carretero, J. M., Arsuaga, J. L., Martínez, I., Quam, R. M., Lorenzo, C., Gracia, A., & Ortega, A. I. (2004). Los humanos de la Sima de los Huesos (Sierra de Atapuerca) y la evolución del cuerpo en el género Homo. Miscelánea Homenaje a Emiliano Aguirre. Zona Arqueológica, 1, 120–135.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carretero, J. M., Rodríguez, L., García-González, R., Arsuaga, J. L., Gómez-Olivencia, A., Lorenzo, C., Bonmatí, A., Gracia, A., Martínez, I., & Quam, R. (2012). Stature estimation from complete long bones in the Middle Pleistocene humans from the Sima de los Huesos, Sierra de Atapuerca (Spain). Journal of Human Evolution, 62, 242–255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Churchill, S. E., & Rhodes, J. A. (2006). How strong were the Neandertals? Leverage and muscularity at the shoulder and elbow in Mousterian foragers. Periodicum Biologorum, 08, 457–470.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cochran, W. G. (1954). Some methods for strengthening the common χ2 tests. Biometrics, 10, 417–451.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Compher, C., Frankenfield, D., Keim, N., Roth-Yousey, L., & Evidence Analysis Working Group. (2006). Best practice methods to apply to measurement of resting metabolic rate in adults: a systematic review. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 106(6), 881–903.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cotterell, B., & Kamminga, J. (1979). The mechanics of flaking. In B. Hayden (Ed.), Lithic use-wear analysis (pp. 97–112). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diogo, R., Richmond, B. G., & Wood, B. (2012). Evolution and homologies of primate and modern human hand and forearm muscles, with notes on thumb movements and tool use. Journal of Human Evolution, 63(1), 64–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Faisal, A., Stout, D., Apel, J., & Bradley, B. (2010). The manipulative complexity of lower Paleolithic stone toolmaking. PLoS One, 5(11), e13718 1–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferguson, J. R. (2008). The when, where, and how of novices in craft production. Journal of Archeological Method and Theory, 15, 51–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • García-Medrano, P., Cáceres, I., Ollé, A., & Carbonell, E. (2015a). The occupational pattern of the Galería site (Atapuerca, Spain): a technological perspective. Quaternary International, 433(Part A), 363–378.

    Google Scholar 

  • García-Medrano, P., Ollé, A., Mosquera, M., Cáceres, I., & Carbonell, E. (2015b). The nature of technological changes: The Middle Pleistocene stone tool assemblages from Galería and Gran Dolina-subunit TD10.1 (Atapuerca, Spain). Quaternary International, 368, 92–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • García-Medrano, P., Ollé, A., Ashton, N., & Roberts, M. B. (in press). The mental template in handaxe manufacture: new insights into Acheulean lithic technological behavior at Boxgrove, Sussex, UK. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-018-9376-0.

  • Geribàs, N., Mosquera, M., & Vergès, J. M. (2010). What novice knappers have to learn to become expert stone toolmakers. Journal of Archeological Science, 37, 2857–2870.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Günter, M. M., & Boesch, C. (1993). Energetic cost of nut-cracking behaviour in wild chimpanzees. In H. Preuschoft & D. J. Chivers (Eds.), Hands of primates (pp. 109–129). Viena: Springer-Verlag.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hair, J. F., Anderson, R. E., Tatham, R., & Black, W. C. (1998). Multivariate data analysis. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamrick, M. W., Churchill, S. E., Schmitt, D., & Hylander, W. L. (1998). EMG of the human flexor pollicis longus muscle: implications for the evolution of hominid tool use. Journal of Human Evolution, 34(2), 123–136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haslam, M., Hernandez-Aguilar, A., Ling, V., Carvalho, S., de La Torre, I., DeStefano, A., Du, A., Hardy, B., Harris, J., Marchant, L., Matsuzawa, T., McGrew, W., Mercader, J., Mora, R., Petraglia, M., Roche, H., Visalberghi, E., & Warren, R. (2009). Primate archaeology. Nature, 460(7253), 339–344.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henry, C. J. K., Lighttowler, H. L., & Marchini, J. (2003). Intra-individual variation in resting metabolic rate during the menstrual cycle. British Journal of Nutrition, 89, 811–817.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holliday, T. W. (1997a). Body proportions in Late Pleistocene Europe and modern human origins. Journal of Human Evolution, 32, 423–447.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holliday, T. W. (1997b). Postcranial evidence of cold adaptation in European Neandertals. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 104, 245–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holliday, T. W. (1999). Brachial and crural indices of European Late Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic humans. Journal of Human Evolution, 36(5), 549–566.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holliday, T. W., & Hilton, C. E. (2010). Body proportions of circumpolar peoples as evidenced from skeletal data: Ipiutak and Tigara (Point Hope) versus Kodiak Island Inuit. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 142, 287–202.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jeske, R. J. (1992). Energetic efficiency and lithic technology: an Upper Mississippian example. American Anthropologist, 57, 467–481.

    Google Scholar 

  • Key, A. J., & Dunmore, C. J. (2015). The evolution of the hominin thumb and the influence exerted by the non-dominant hand during stone tool production. Journal of Human Evolution, 78, 60–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Key, A. J., & Lycett, S. J. (2011). Technology based evolution? A biometric test of the effects of handsize versus tool form on efficiency in an experimental cutting task. Journal of Archaeological Science, 38(7), 1663–1670.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Key, A. J., & Lycett, S. J. (2017a). Influence of handaxe size and shape on cutting efficiency: a large-scale experiment and morphometric analysis. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 24(2), 514–541.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Key, A. J. M., & Lycett, S. J. (2017b). Form and function in the Lower Palaeolithic: history, progress, and continued relevance. Journal of Anthropological Sciences, 95, 67–108.

    Google Scholar 

  • Key, A. J. M., & Lycett, S. J. (in press). Investigating interrelationships between Lower Palaeolithic stone tool effectiveness and tool user biometric variation: implications for technological and evolutionary changes. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-016-0433-x.

  • Key, A. J., Proffitt, T., Stefani, E., & Lycett, S. J. (2016). Looking at handaxes from another angle: assessing the ergonomic and functional importance of edge form in Acheulean bifaces. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 44, 43–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kivell, T. L. (2015). Evidence in hand: recent discoveries and the early evolution of human manual manipulation. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 370 https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0105.

  • Kleiber, M. (1947). Body size and metabolic rate. Physical Review Letters, 27, 511–541.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lapunzina, P., & Aiello, H. (2002). Manual de Antropometría normal y patológica. Fetal, neonatal, niños y adultos. Masson.

  • Leonard, W. R. (2012). Laboratory and field methods for measuring human energy expenditure. American Journal of Human Biology, 24(3), 372–384.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Machin, A. J., Hosfield, R. T., & Mithen, S. J. (2007). Why are some handaxes symmetrical? Testing the influence of handaxe morphology on butchery effectiveness. Journal of Archaeological Science, 34(6), 883–893.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahaney, R. A. (2016). Cognition and planning in Paleolithic technology studies in experimental archaeology. Ann Arbor.

  • Mantel, N., & Haenszel, W. (1959). Statistical aspects of the analysis of data from retrospective studies of disease. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 22, 719–748.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marzke, M. W. (1971). Origin of the human hand. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 34, 61–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marzke, M. W. (1997). Precision grips, hand morphology, and tools. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 102, 91–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marzke, M. W., & Marzke, R. F. (2000). Evolution of the human hand: approaches to acquiring, analysing and interpreting the anatomical evidence. Journal of Anatomy, 197(1), 121–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marzke, M. W., & Shackley, M. S. (1986). Hominid hand use in the Pliocene and Pleistocene: evidence from experimental archaeology and comparative morphology. Journal of Human Evolution, 15, 439–460.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marzke, M. W., Toth, N., Schick, K., Reece, S., Steinberg, B., Hunt, K., Linscheid, R. L., & An, K.-N. (1998). EMG study of hand muscle recruitment during hard hammer percussion manufacture of Oldowan tools. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 105, 315–332.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mateos, A., Prado-Nóvoa, O., Vidal-Cordasco, M., Zorrilla-Revilla, G., Rodríguez, J. (2016). EVOBREATH. A new database for Evolutionary Bioenergetics Research on Paleoanthropology. 6 Annual Meeting of the European Society for the Study of Human Evolution, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain.

  • McDonald, J. H. (2014). Handbook of biological statistics (3rd Ed.). Baltimore: Sparky House Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • McPherron, S. P. (2000). Handaxes as a measure of the mental capabilities of early hominids. Journal of Archaeological Science, 27, 655–663.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • National Institutes of Health (NIH). (1996). Bioelectrical impedance analysis in body composition measurement: National Institutes of Health Technology Assessment Conference Statement. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 64(3), 524S–532S.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nonaka, T., Bril, B., & Rein, R. (2010). How do stone knappers predict and control the outcome of flaking? Implications for understanding early stone tool technology. Journal of Human Evolution, 59, 155–167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Odell, G. H. (2004). Lithic analysis. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ollé, A., Mosquera, M., Rodríguez-Álvarez, X. P., García-Medrano, P., Barsky, D., & de Lombera, A. (2016). The Acheulean from Atapuerca: Three steps forward, one step back. Quaternary International, 411B, 316–328.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parry, R., Dietrich, G., & Bril, B. (2014). Tool use ability depends on understanding of functional dynamics and not specific joint contribution profiles. Frontiers in Psychology, 5(306), 1–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Patiño, F. Y., Luque, M., Terradillos-Bernal, M., & Martín-Loeches, M. (2017). Biomechanics of microlithics manufacture: a preliminary approach to Neanderthal’s motor constrains in the frame of embodied cognition. Journal of Anthropological Sciences, 95, 1–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearce, E., Stringer, C., & Dunbar, R. I. M. (2013). New insights into differences in brain organization between Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 280(1758), 20130168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pelegrin, J. (2005). Remarks about archaeological techniques and methods of knapping: elements of a cognitive approach to stone knapping. In V. Roux & B. Bril (Eds.), Stone knapping: The necessary conditions for a uniquely hominid behaviour (pp. 23–25). Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ploux, S. (1984). Étude de débitages expérimentaux: la marque du tailleur. URA. Meudon. pp., 109-179.

  • Porter, A. M. W. (1999). Modern human, early modern human and Neanderthal limb proportions. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 9, 54–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Putt, S. S., Wijeakumar, S., Franciscus, R. G., & Spencer, J. P. (2017). The functional brain networks that underlie Early Stone Age tool manufacture. Nature Human Behaviour. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-017-0102.

  • Rein, R., Bril, B., & Nonaka, T. (2013). Coordination strategies used in stone knapping. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 150(4), 539–550.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rein, R., Nonaka, T., & Bril, B. (2014). Movement pattern variability in stone knapping: implications for the development of percussive traditions. PLoS One, 9(11), e113567.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richmond, B. G., Aiello, L. C., & Wood, B. A. (2002). Early hominin limb proportions. Journal of Human Evolution, 43, 529–548.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rolian, C., Lieberman, D. E., & Zermeno, J. P. (2011). Hand biomechanics during simulated stone tool use. Journal of Human Evolution, 61, 26–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roux, V., & David, E. (2005). Planning abilities as a dynamic perceptual-motor skill: an actualistic study of different levels of expertise involved in stone knapping. In V. Roux & B. Bril (Eds.), Stone Knapping: The Necessary Conditions for a Uniquely Hominid Behaviour (pp. 91–108). Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schiffer, M. B., & Skibo, J. (1997). The explanation of artifact variability. American Antiquity, 62(1), 27–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaw, C. N., Hofmann, C. L., Petraglia, M. D., Stock, J. T., & Gottschall, J. S. (2012). Neandertal humeri may reflect adaptation to scraping tasks, but not spear thrusting. PloS One, 7(7), e40349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siegel, S., & Castellan, N. J. (1988). Nonparametric statistics for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, E. A. (1979). Human adaptation and energy efficiency. Human Ecology, 7(1), 53–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sternke, D., & Sorensen, M. (2007). The identification of children’s flintknapping products in Mesolithic Scandinavia. In S. McCartan, R. Schulting, G. Warren, & P. C. Woodman (Eds.), Mesolithic horizons (pp. 720–726). Oxford: Oxbow Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stout, D. (2002). Skill and cognition in stone tool production. An ethnographic case study from Irian Jaya. Current Anthropology, 43, 693–722.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stout, D. (2006). Oldowan toolmaking and hominin brain evolution: theory and research using positron emission tomography (PET). In N. Toth & K. Schick (Eds.), The origins of human technology: Studies into the Early Stone Age (Oldowan) (pp. 267–306). Indiana: Stone Age Institute Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stout, D., & Chaminade, T. (2007). The evolutionary neuroscience of tool making. Neuropsychologia, 45(5), 1091–1100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stout, D., & Semaw, S. (2006). Knapping skills of the earliest stone-tool makers: Insights from the study of modern human novices. In N. Toth & K. Schick (Eds.), The Origins of Human Technology: Studies into the Early Stone Age (Oldowan) (pp. 321–338). Indiana: Stone Age Institute Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stout, D., Toth, N., Schicka, K., Stoutb, J., & Hutchinsc, G. (2000). Stone tool-making and brain activation: positron emission tomography (PET) studies. Journal of Archeological Science, 27, 1215–1223.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Susman, R. L. (1998). Hand function and tool behavior in early hominids. Journal of Human Evolution, 35(1), 23–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tensorer, J. M. (2006). Les cultures acheuléennes et la question de l'émergence de la pensée symbolique chez Homo erectus à partir des données relatives à la forme symétrique et harmonique des bifaces. Comptes Rendus Palevol, 5, 127–135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Terradillos-Bernal, M. (2010). El Paleolítico inferior en la Meseta Norte, España: Sierra de Atapuerca, La Maya, El Basalito, San Quirce y Ambrona. Estudio tecnológico y experimental, British Archaeological Reports International Series. Archaeopress, Oxford.

  • Terradillos-Bernal, M., & Rodríguez-Álvarez, X. P. (2014). The influence of raw material qualities in the lithic technology of Gran Dolina (Units TD6 and TD10) and Galería (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain): a view from experimental archeology. Comptes Rendus Palevol, 13, 527–542.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tocheri, M. W., Razdan, A., Williams, R. C., & Marzke, M. W. (2005). A 3D quantitative comparison of trapezium and trapezoid relative articular and nonarticular surface areas in modern humans and great apes. Journal of Human Evolution, 49(5), 570–586.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tocheri, M. W., Orr, C. M., Jacofsky, M. C., & Marzke, M. W. (2008). The evolutionary history of the hominin hand since the last common ancestor of Pan and Homo. Journal of Anatomy, 212(4), 544–562.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Torrence, R. (1989). Tools as optimal solutions. In R. Torrence (Ed.), Time, energy and stone tools (pp. 1–6). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Toth, N. (1991). The importance of experimental replicative and functional studies in Palaleolithic archaeology. In J. D. Clark (Ed.), Cultural beginnings: Approaches to understanding early hominid life-ways in the African Savanna (pp. 109–124). Bonn: Rudolf Habelt Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ugan, A., Bright, J., & Rogers, A. (2003). When is technology worth the trouble? Journal of Archaeological Science, 30, 1315–1329.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Uomini, N. T., & Meyer, G. F. (2013). Shared brain lateralization patterns in language and Acheulean stone tool production: a functional transcranial Doppler ultrasound study. PLoS One, 8(8), e72693.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vidal-Cordasco, M., Mateos, A., Prado-Nóvoa, O., Terradillos-Bernal, M., & Rodríguez, J. (2017). Shorter arms count: the energetic costs of raw material catchment in a new experimental approach at Sierra de Atapuerca. Quaternary International, 433, 179–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weir, J. D. (1949). New methods for calculating metabolic rate with special reference to protein metabolism. The Journal of Physiology, 109, 1–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White, C. R., & Seymour, R. S. (2003). Mammalian basal metabolic rate is proportional to body mass. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 100, 4046–4049.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whittaker, J. (1994). Flintknapping. Making and understanding stone tools. In University Texas press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, E. M., & Richmond, B. G. (2012). Manual pressure distribution during stone tool use. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 147, 303.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, E. M., Gordon, A. D., & Richmond, B. G. (2010). Upper limb kinematics and the role of the wrist during stone tool production. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 143, 134–145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, E. M., Gordon, A. D., & Richmond, B. G. (2012). Hand pressure distribution during Oldowan stone tool production. Journal of Human Evolution, 62, 520–532.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams-Hatala, E. M., Hatala, K. G., Gordon, M., Key, A., Kasper, M., & Kivell, T. L. (2018). The manual pressures of stone tool behaviors and their implications for the evolution of the human hand. Journal of Human Evolution, 119, 14–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, J., & Andrefsky, W. (2008). Exploring Retouch on bifaces: Unpacking production, resharpening, and hammer type. In W. Andrefsky (Ed.), Lithic technology. measures of production, use and curation (pp. 86–105). Washington State University.

  • World Health Organization (2010). Global recommendations on Physical Activity for Health Geneva.

  • Young, R. W. (2003). Evolution of the human hand: the role of throwing and clubbing. Journal of Anatomy, 202(1), 165–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are deeply grateful to all the knappers who participated in this study: Raul López, David Canales, Iván de Pedro, Rodrigo Alcalde, Felipe Cuartero, Andreu Ollé, Josep Mª Vergès, and Juan Ignacio Morales. The experimental design was developed at the CENIEH LabBioEM, Bioenergy and Motion Laboratory of the National Research Center on Human Evolution (Burgos, Spain) and at the CAREX (Centro de Arqueología Experimental, Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain). Data were obtained from the EVOBREATH DataBase managed by A.Mateos and J. Rodríguez. The work of the CENIEH Palaeophysiology and Human Ecology Group is gratefully acknowledged. This research was funded by the National Research Center on Human Evolution (CENIEH). Two anonymous experts from Elsevier Language Editing Services edited the English of the manuscript. Finally, we appreciate the helpful comments and suggestions provided by the editor and the three anonymous reviewers which significantly enhanced the manuscript. This work is dedicated to José Antonio Muñoz.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Research Center on Human Evolution (CENIEH), Paseo Sierra de Atapuerca 3, 09002, Burgos, Spain

    Ana Mateos & Jesús Rodríguez

  2. Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Internacional Isabel I de Castilla, c/ Fernán González, 76, 09003, Burgos, Spain

    Marcos Terradillos-Bernal

Authors
  1. Ana Mateos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Marcos Terradillos-Bernal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jesús Rodríguez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ana Mateos.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mateos, A., Terradillos-Bernal, M. & Rodríguez, J. Energy Cost of Stone Knapping. J Archaeol Method Theory 26, 561–580 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-018-9382-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-018-9382-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation