(Press-News.org) Contact information: Jerry Barach
jerryb@savion.huji.ac.il
972-258-82904
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Do cultural differences determine outcome of our activities?
Not necessarily, say researchers
	Jerusalem, January 14, 2014 -- A generally held assumption in various academic disciplines is that the way people perform various everyday activities – walking, swimming, carrying loads, etc. – is culturally determined. But, the question remains:  do these cultural characteristics, when they affect various motor skills, also determine the results of people's efforts?
	A study involving an original collaboration between archaeology, ethnology and human movement sciences indicates that different cultural approaches to various tasks do not necessarily produce different results.
	These findings, for example, represent a cautionary tale for archaeologists, demonstrating that the cultural identity of a social group cannot be reduced to the shape of a ceramic artefact. Therefore, the morphological (shape) analysis of ancient ceramics needs to be complemented with other analyses for material content and markings. 
	The study conducted by researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and from France and Australia has been published in the American journal PLoS One. The researchers were Dr. Leore Grosman and Dr. Enore Gandon of the Computerized Archaeology Laboratory at the Institute of Archaeology, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Dr. Reinoud J. Bootsma of the Institute of Movement Sciences of the University of Aix-Marseille, France; and Dr. John A. Endler of the Center for Integrative Ecology, Deakin University, Australia.
	In their collaborative work, the researchers focused on pottery wheel-throwing in French and Indian cultural settings. Field experiments were set up with expert potters in workshops in central France (Bourgogne) and north India (Uttar Pradesh). All participants (nine French and six Indian) were invited to reproduce a common model shape (a sphere) with two different masses of clay. 
	The differing hand positions and movements used by the potters when shaping the pots were identified and recorded. In addition, the vessels produced were geometrically characterized as to their degree of similarity. As expected, results revealed a cultural influence on the operational aspects of the potters' motor skill. From the total of 62 different hand positions identified, 44% were culture-specific (only French or Indian) and only 27% were shared across cultures. Twenty-nine percent were individual. 
	In other words, most of the hand positions were cultural and the rest were either cross-cultural or individual. Yet, the large cultural differences in hand positions used did not give rise to noticeable differences in the shapes of the vessels produced. Hence, for the simple, spherical model selected, the culturally-specific motor traditions of the French and Indian potters gave rise to an equivalent outcome that was largely unified in shape. 
	In undertaking their novel approach, the researchers are convinced that they have opened up an innovative way to assess the cultural aspect of human motor skills, introducing in the process a cautionary note in addressing the characterization of these skills.
### END
Do cultural differences determine outcome of our activities?
Not necessarily, say researchers
2014-01-14
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Cell division discovery could offer fresh insight into cancer
2014-01-14
Cell division discovery could offer fresh insight into cancer
	New findings on how the cells in our bodies are able to renew themselves could aid our understanding of health disorders, including cancer.
	Scientists have explained a key part of the process ...
Physical reason for chromosome shape discovered
2014-01-14
Physical reason for chromosome shape discovered
	
This work gives a solution to a fundamental question in structural biology: Why do metaphase chromosomes have their characteristic elongated cylindrical shape? The proposed solution is consistent ...
What makes superalloys super -- hierarchical microstructure of a superalloy
2014-01-14
What makes superalloys super -- hierarchical microstructure of a superalloy
Researchers have observed for the first time in detail how a hierarchical microstructure develops during heat treatment of a superalloy
  This ...
What your candles and TV screen have in common
2014-01-14
What your candles and TV screen have in common
New research finding will be of value to the plastics industry
	The next time you light a candle and switch on your television ready for a relaxing evening at home, just think.  These two vastly different ...
Study: CT scans could bolster forensic database to ID unidentified remains
2014-01-14
Study: CT scans could bolster forensic database to ID unidentified remains
	A study from North Carolina State University finds that data from CT scans can be incorporated into a growing forensic database to help determine the ancestry and sex of unidentified ...
Fish derived serum omega-3 fatty acids help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes
2014-01-14
Fish derived serum omega-3 fatty acids help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes
	High concentrations of serum long-chain omega-3 fatty acids may help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, according to a University of Eastern Finland study published recently ...
Mindfulness helps undergraduates stay on track
2014-01-14
Mindfulness helps undergraduates stay on track
UM researchers find that mindfulness training significantly reduces mind wandering in college students, promoting learning and improving academic achievement
	Coral Gables, Fla. (Jan. 13, 2014) -- Few situations ...
New breast cancer stem cell findings explain how cancer spreads
2014-01-14
New breast cancer stem cell findings explain how cancer spreads
Researchers identify 2 types of cancer stem cells; both necessary to create metastasis
	
	ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Breast cancer stem cells exist in two different states and each state plays ...
American Chemical Society podcast: Small dams create greenhouse gas 'hot spots'
2014-01-14
American Chemical Society podcast: Small dams create greenhouse gas 'hot spots'
	The latest episode in the American Chemical Society's (ACS') award-winning Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions podcast series questions the "green" reputation of small hydroelectric ...
Short circuit in molecular switch intensifies pain
2014-01-14
Short circuit in molecular switch intensifies pain
	While searching for novel painkillers, researchers at KU Leuven in Belgium came to the surprising conclusion that some candidate drugs actually increase pain. In a study published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology, ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Student's unexpected rise as a researcher leads to critical new insights into HPV
Ominous false alarm in the kidney
MSK Research Highlights, October 31, 2025
Lisbon to host world’s largest conference on ecosystem restoration in 2027, led by researcher from the Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon
Electrocatalysis with dual functionality – an overview
Scripps Research awarded $6.9 million by NIH to crack the code of lasting HIV vaccine protection
New post-hoc analysis shows patients whose clinicians had access to GeneSight results for depression treatment are more likely to feel better sooner
First transplant in pigs of modified porcine kidneys with human renal organoids
Reinforcement learning and blockchain: new strategies to secure the Internet of Medical Things
Autograph: A higher-accuracy and faster framework for compute-intensive programs
Expansion microscopy helps chart the planktonic universe
Small bat hunts like lions – only better
As Medicaid work requirements loom, U-M study finds links between coverage, better health and higher employment
Manifestations of structural racism and inequities in cardiovascular health across US neighborhoods
Prescribing trends of glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists for type 2 diabetes or obesity
Continuous glucose monitoring frequency and glycemic control in people with type 2 diabetes
Bimodal tactile tomography with bayesian sequential palpation for intracavitary microstructure profiling and segmentation
IEEE study reviews novel photonics breakthroughs of 2024
New method for intentional control of bionic prostheses
Obesity treatment risks becoming a ‘two-tier system’, researchers warn
Researchers discuss gaps, obstacles and solutions for contraception
Disrupted connectivity of the brainstem ascending reticular activating system nuclei-left parahippocampal gyrus could reveal mechanisms of delirium following basal ganglia intracerebral hemorrhage
Federated metadata-constrained iRadonMAP framework with mutual learning for all-in-one computed tomography imaging
‘Frazzled’ fruit flies help unravel how neural circuits stay wired
Improving care for life-threatening blood clots
Yonsei University develops a new era of high-voltage solid-state batteries
Underweight and unbalanced: Gut microbial diversity in underweight Japanese women
Astringent, sharper mind: Flavanols trigger brain activity for memory and stress response
New editorial urges clinicians to address sex-based disparities in sepsis treatment
Researchers at MIT develop new nanoparticles that stimulate the immune system to attack ovarian tumors
[Press-News.org] Do cultural differences determine outcome of our activities?Not necessarily, say researchers