Tool design (shape, dimensions), users’ hand features (size, morphology, biomechanical aspects), and how tasks are performed (hand/finger position, grasping types) are all key factors in making hand tool use effective, safe, and risk-free.

Combining experimental archaeology with advanced techniques, the PALEOERGO project aims to measure how effectively replica Lower Paleolithic stone tools can be produced and used, and how this relates to the anatomy and ergonomic strategies employed. The project seeks to answer longstanding questions about the ergonomic relationship between the human hand and the use and production of stone tools.

The research employs methods from experimental archaeology, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), surface electromyography (sEMG), and occupational safety techniques. The project aims to understand how musculoskeletal aspects of the hand, and variation within and between species, influenced the lithic archaeological record, and how variation in an individual’s anatomy influences stone tool use and production.

This innovative approach focuses on Oldowan flakes and Acheulean handaxes, examining how hand anatomy influenced tool manipulation and the subsequent evolutionary trajectory of human cognition and behavior.