An accurate reconstruction of habitual activities in past populations and extinct hominin species is a paramount goal of paleoanthropological research, as it can elucidate the evolution of human behavior and the relationship between culture and biology. Variation in muscle attachment (entheseal) morphology has been considered an indicator of habitual activity, and many attempts have been made to use it for this purpose. However, its interpretation remains equivocal due to methodological shortcomings and a paucity of supportive experimental data. Through a series of studies, we have introduced a novel and precise methodology that focuses on reconstructing muscle synergies based on three-dimensional and multivariate analyses among entheses. This approach was validated using uniquely documented anthropological samples, experimental animal studies, histological observations, and geometric morphometrics. Here, we detail, synthesize, and critically discuss the findings of these studies, which overall point to the great potential of entheses in elucidating aspects of past human behavior.

中文翻译：

---

重建过去人类行为的新视野：介绍“Tübingen University Validated Entheses-based Reconstruction of Activity”方法

准确重建过去种群和已灭绝人类物种的习惯活动是古人类学研究的首要目标，因为它可以阐明人类行为的演变以及文化与生物学之间的关系。肌肉附着（附着点）形态的变化被认为是习惯性活动的指标，并且已经进行了许多尝试以将其用于此目的。然而，由于方法学上的缺陷和支持性实验数据的缺乏，它的解释仍然模棱两可。通过一系列的研究，我们引入了一种新颖而精确的方法，该方法侧重于基于增强点之间的三维和多变量分析来重建肌肉协同作用。这种方法已使用独特记录的人类学样本、实验动物研究、组织学观察和几何形态测量学。在这里，我们详细、综合并批判性地讨论了这些研究的结果，总体而言，这些研究结果表明了在阐明过去人类行为的各个方面方面的巨大潜力。