For at least three million years, knapping stone has been practiced by hominin societies large and small, past and present. Thus, understanding knapping, knappers, and knapping cultures is fundamental to anthropological research around the world. Although there is a general sense that stone knapping is inherently dangerous and can lead to injury, little is formally, specifically, or systematically known about the frequency, location, or severity of knapping injuries. Toward this end, we conducted a 31-question survey of modern knappers to better understand knapping risks. Responses from 173 survey participants suggest that knapping injuries are a real and persistent hazard, even though a majority of modern knappers use personal protective equipment. A variety of injuries (lacerations, punctures, aches, etc.) can occur on nearly any part of the body. The severity of injury sustained by some of our participants is shocking, and nearly one-quarter of respondents reported having sought or received professional medical attention for a flintknapping-related injury. Overall, the results of this survey suggest that there would have likely been serious, even fatal, costs to knappers in past societies. Such costs may have encouraged the deployment of any social learning capacities possessed by hominins or delayed the learning or exposure of young infants or children to knapping.

至少三百万年来，无论过去还是现在，大大小小的古人类社会都在使用敲击石头的方式。因此，了解敲击、敲击者和敲击文化是世界各地人类学研究的基础。尽管人们普遍认为石击本质上是危险的，并且可能导致伤害，但人们对石击伤害的频率、位置或严重程度知之甚少。为此，我们对现代碎石者进行了一项包含 31 个问题的调查，以更好地了解碎石风险。173 名调查参与者的反馈表明，尽管大多数现代敲击者都使用个人防护装备，但敲击伤害是一种真实且持续的危险。各种损伤（割伤、刺伤、疼痛等））几乎可以发生在身体的任何部位。我们的一些参与者所受伤害的严重程度令人震惊，近四分之一的受访者表示曾因燧石敲打相关伤害寻求或接受过专业医疗护理。总体而言，这项调查的结果表明，在过去的社会中，砍伐者可能会付出严重甚至致命的代价。这些成本可能鼓励了古人类所拥有的任何社会学习能力的部署，或者延迟了幼儿或儿童的学习或暴露于敲打。这项调查的结果表明，在过去的社会中，砍伐者可能会付出严重甚至致命的代价。这些成本可能鼓励了古人类所拥有的任何社会学习能力的部署，或者延迟了幼儿或儿童的学习或暴露于敲打。这项调查的结果表明，在过去的社会中，砍伐者可能会付出严重甚至致命的代价。这些成本可能鼓励了古人类所拥有的任何社会学习能力的部署，或者延迟了幼儿或儿童的学习或暴露于敲打。