Can it be identified in past materials?

Certainly. The favoured direction of a left- or right-hander is quite evident in some

specimens. However, caution should be exercised when making conclusions, as

directionality may have been conditioned by either physical (e.g. placing the pot upside-

down) or symbolic factors (e.g. representing the sun’s movement).

So far, the only attempts at identifying handedness in pottery production we are

aware of were used to explain learning flexibility (2) and communities of practice (3; 4) but no systematisation has been suggested.

It may also be a useful reference for the definition of technological habitus acquisition

as well as past authorship and potter’s identity.

How is handedness expressed in material culture?

As people feel more comfortable with a particular hand, they tend to produce

inefficient figures when the wrong hand is used. If the society forces left-handers to

use the right hand (social preference for the left-hand is unknown) their work would be awkward, and can be easily confused with

an apprentice’s production. The use of one hand or the other conditions a favoured directionality in the drawings or

incisions. Thus, a left-hander typically makes both horizontal and vertical lines in a right-left direction, so the directionality can be

defined once the starting point is identified.

Upwards deviations in horizontal lines are noted on the left, while the central axis of

vertical motifs is often rotated up to 20° also to the left. The opposite situation is noted

for right-handed people. When making circles, left-handers consistently go counter-clockwise, particularly if a potter’s calliper is

used, as the rotation to the left would be disturbed by their own body.

1. Holder, M. (1992) Hand Preference Questionnaires: One Gets What One Asks For. M.Ph thesis, Department of Anthropology, Rutgers University. 2. Wallaert-Petre, H. (1999) Manual Laterality Apprenticeship as the First Learning Rule Prescribed to Potters. Urgeschichtliche Materialheite 14: 185-206. 3. Sassaman, K. & W. Rudolphi (2001) Communities of Practice in the Early Pottery Traditions of the American Southeast. Journal of Anthropological Research 57: 407-425. 4. Alday Ruiz, A. (ed.) (2009) Reflejos del Neolítico Ibérico. La cerámica boquique: caracteres, cronología y contexto. Barcelona: EDAR, Arqueología y Patrimonio.

Thanks to Irene Pedrosa, Nuria Egea and all the left-handers who participated, especially to Juan Jesús Padilla for the samples and suggestions.

Aixa Vidal (UCM/INAPL)

a b

(a) Left- and (b) right-hander’s typical directionality (C. Higuerón; Neolithic)

What is “lateralisation” or “handedness”?

It is the tendency to use a specific hand to perform activities. People are usually classified as right-handed, left-handed, or ambidextrous.

Arguably, 2% to 30% of any human population is left-handed or ambidextrous, with estimates hovering around 10%, depending upon the

criteria used (1) and social acceptance.

(a) Left- and (b) right-hander’s typical directionality (Numancia; Iron Age II)