Shorter arms count: the energetic costs of raw material catchment in a new experimental approach at Sierra de Atapuerca

Abstract

A bioenergetic approach has been increasingly used to address key issues in palaeobiology and palaeocology. An experimental study aimed to quantify the energetic costs of quartzite catchment at Sierra de Atapuerca is presented here. Furthermore, several anthropometric and body composition variables related to energy expenditure were also taken. All these data were used to quantify and test some adaptive hypotheses, on the basis of the influence of upper and lower limb length on energy expenditure during transport. Furthermore, the experimental data were used to obtain a predictive equation to estimate energy expenditure in fossil hominins during this activity. It is proposed that the cost of lithic raw materials catchment could exert a selective pressure on the emergence of some features in the genus Homo.