Bow and muscles: Observed muscle activity in archers and potential implications for habitual activity reconstruction

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11310%2F22%3A10449504" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11310/22:10449504 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=svHJT2FImI" target="_blank" >https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=svHJT2FImI</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2022.105638" target="_blank" >10.1016/j.jas.2022.105638</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Bow and muscles: Observed muscle activity in archers and potential implications for habitual activity reconstruction

Original language description

Previous research has suggested that reduced humeral asymmetry in robusticity in European Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene populations may be a result of increased left humeral robusticity due to muscle loading from increased use of bow hunting. This paper provides a basis for considering the causes of such changes by assessing the overall intensity and level of asymmetry in the distribution of muscle activation and muscle force among living male archers. In this experiment, 20 right-handed archers drew a replica of the self bows characteristic for the Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic. We measured activation of eight muscles (biceps, triceps [long head], triceps [lateral head], deltoid [anterior part], deltoid [middle part], deltoid [posterior part], infraspinatus, and latissimus) using surface electromyography. We observed about a 15%-28% left bias in total maximum muscle force. The main muscles employed were triceps (lateral head), deltoid (middle part), and deltoid (posterior part) on both sides and triceps (long head) on the left arm. The most asymmetrical toward the right arm was the activation of biceps (123% right bias in mean muscle activation) and toward the left was triceps (long head) and triceps (lateral head) (70%-110% left bias in mean muscle activation). We conclude that left biased asymmetry in maximum muscle force produced during bow shooting may be responsible for the increase in robusticity of the left humerus and that the pattern of activation of specific individual muscles suggests that archery may be identifiable in the prehistoric record using skeletal features associated with muscle activity.

Czech name

—

Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

10600 - Biological sciences

Project

—

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2022

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Journal of Archaeological Science

ISSN

0305-4403

e-ISSN

1095-9238

Volume of the periodical

144

Issue of the periodical within the volume

august

Country of publishing house

GB - UNITED KINGDOM

Number of pages

11

Pages from-to

105638

UT code for WoS article

000824668600001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85133189952