[SunkenCiv]

[* Shaw CN, Hofmann CL, Petraglia MD, Stock JT, Gottschall JS (2012) Neandertal Humeri May Reflect Adaptation to Scraping Tasks, but Not Spear Thrusting. PLoS ONE 7(7): e40349. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0040349]

Neanderthal reconstruction, Wikimedia Commons.

[Sacajaweau]

Solution is probably whether person was right handed or left handed.

[cripplecreek]

So they weren’t spear chuckers after all.

[Venturer]

Man!! This is great to know.

It will sure make a significant impact on my life.

[KrisKrinkle]

“They found that muscle activity was significantly higher on the left side of the body for spear thrusting tasks relative to the right side of the body. This does not explain the observed Neandertal morphology, though, which shows dominant strength on the right side, casting doubt on the hypothesis that spear thrusting was responsible for the observed asymmetry.”

The assumption is that Neandertals were right handed in the majority instead of left handed, like modern man. Maybe Neandertals were left handed in the majority. Do they know, or did they make an unwarranted assumption?

[bunkerhill7]

Washboards cause neanderthal arms from scraping.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Unique arm morphology in Neandertals was likely caused by scraping activities such as hide preparation, not spear thrusting as previously theorized,

So something that is done for hours a day tends to develop you more then something that you do for, at best, a minute a day?

Gee, who would have thought!

[Dustbunny]

Sounds logical.