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Haslam M. Primate archaeology 3.1. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2024; 184:e24919. [PMID: 38400816 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24919] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2023] [Revised: 12/11/2023] [Accepted: 12/18/2023] [Indexed: 02/26/2024]
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Harmand S, Arroyo A. Linking primatology and archaeology: The transversality of stone percussive behaviors. J Hum Evol 2023; 181:103398. [PMID: 37329870 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2022] [Revised: 05/09/2023] [Accepted: 05/09/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Since the launch of the Journal of Human Evolution fifty years ago, the archaeology of human origins and the evolution of culture have witnessed major breakthroughs with the identification of several new archaeological sites whose chronology has been slowly pushed back until the discovery of the earliest evidence of stone tool making at Lomekwi 3 (West Turkana, Kenya), at 3.3 Ma. Parallel to these discoveries, the study of wild primates, especially chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), allowed the development of models to understand key aspects of the behavior of extinct hominin species. Indeed, chimpanzees possess an impressive diversity of tool-aided foraging behaviors, demonstrating that technology (and culture) is not exclusive to humans. Additionally, current research has also shown that wild capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus) and long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) also rely on stone percussive foraging behaviors. The investigation of these primates is boosting new interpretative models to understand the origins of stone flaking and the archaeological signature left by these primates. This review aims to present an examination of the state-of-the-art and the current advances made in the study of the earliest hominin technology and primate percussive behaviors. Overall, we argue that while it has been shown that extant primates can generate unintentional flakes, early hominins exhibited skills in the production and use of flakes not identified in primates. Nonetheless, we stand up to continue developing interdisciplinary approaches (i.e., primate archaeology) to study extant primates, as these endeavors are essential to move forward toward a detailed understanding of the technological foraging behaviors beyond the genus Homo. Finally, we discuss future challenges for the study of the emergence of stone technology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sonia Harmand
- Turkana Basin Institute, Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794-4364, USA; TRACES (Travaux et Recherches Archéologiques sur les Cultures, les Espaces et les Sociétés), UMR 5608 of the CNRS, Jean Jaurès University, Toulouse, 31058, France; IFRA Nairobi, Institut Français de Recherche en Afrique, UMIFRE, USR, 3336, CNRS, Kenya.
| | - Adrián Arroyo
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA), Zona Educacional 4, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007, Tarragona, Spain; Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Àrea de Prehistòria, Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002, Tarragona, Spain.
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Proffitt T, Reeves JS, Braun DR, Malaivijitnond S, Luncz LV. Wild macaques challenge the origin of intentional tool production. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eade8159. [PMID: 36897944 PMCID: PMC10005173 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ade8159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2022] [Accepted: 02/06/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Intentionally produced sharp-edged stone flakes and flaked pieces are our primary evidence for the emergence of technology in our lineage. This evidence is used to decipher the earliest hominin behavior, cognition, and subsistence strategies. Here, we report on the largest lithic assemblage associated with a primate foraging behavior undertaken by long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis). This behavior results in a landscape-wide record of flaked stone material, almost indistinguishable from early hominin flaked pieces and flakes. It is now clear that the production of unintentional conchoidal sharp-edged flakes can result from tool-assisted foraging in nonhominin primates. Comparisons with Plio-Pleistocene lithic assemblages, dating from 3.3 to 1.56 million years ago, show that flakes produced by macaques fall within the technological range of artifacts made by early hominins. In the absence of behavioral observations, the assemblage produced by monkeys would likely be identified as anthropogenic in origin and interpreted as evidence of intentional tool production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomos Proffitt
- Technological Primates Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jonathan S. Reeves
- Technological Primates Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - David R. Braun
- Technological Primates Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
| | - Suchinda Malaivijitnond
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
- National Primate Research Center of Thailand, Chulalongkorn University, Saraburi, Thailand
| | - Lydia V. Luncz
- Technological Primates Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
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Proffitt T, Reeves JS, Benito-Calvo A, Sánchez-Romero L, Arroyo A, Malaijivitnond S, Luncz LV. Three-dimensional surface morphometry differentiates behaviour on primate percussive stone tools. J R Soc Interface 2021; 18:20210576. [PMID: 34727711 PMCID: PMC8564602 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2021.0576] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2021] [Accepted: 10/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The Early Stone Age record preserves a rich behavioural signature of hominin stone tool making and use. The role of percussive technology in the daily subsistence strategies of our earliest ancestors has seen renewed focus recently. Studies of modern primate tool use highlight the diverse range of behaviours potentially associated with percussive technology. This has prompted significant methodological developments to characterize the associated damage marks (use-wear) on hammerstones and anvils. Little focus has, however, been paid to identifying whether these techniques can successfully differentiate between the damage patterns produced by specific and differing percussive behaviours. Here, we present a novel workflow drawing on the strengths of visual identification and three-dimensional (3D) surface quantification of use-wear. We apply this methodology firstly to characterize macaque percussive use-wear and test the efficacy of 3D surface quantification techniques in differentiating between percussive damage and natural surface topography. Secondly, we use this method to differentiate between use-wear associated with various wild macaque percussive behaviours. By combining analyst-directed, 3D surface analysis and use-wear dimensional analysis, we show that macaque percussive behaviours create specific diagnostic signatures and highlight a means of quantifiably recording such behavioural signatures in both primate and hominin contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomos Proffitt
- Technological Primates Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jonathan S. Reeves
- Technological Primates Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | | | - Laura Sánchez-Romero
- Human Evolution Research Center, University of California, 3101 Valley Life Sciences Building, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Adrián Arroyo
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA), Zona Educacional 4, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain
- Departament d'Història i Història de l'Art, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain
| | - Suchinda Malaijivitnond
- Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
- National Primate Research Centre of Thailand, Chulalongkorn University, Saraburi, Thailand
| | - Lydia V. Luncz
- Technological Primates Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
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5
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Yan Z. The origins of children's understanding of technologies: A focused rapid review of three approaches. HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/hbe2.269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Zheng Yan
- Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology University at Albany Albany New York USA
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6
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Arroyo A, de la Torre I. Pitted stones in the Acheulean from Olduvai Gorge Beds III and IV (Tanzania): A use-wear and 3D approach. J Hum Evol 2020; 145:102837. [PMID: 32652256 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2019] [Revised: 05/25/2020] [Accepted: 05/25/2020] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
The archaeological sequence of Olduvai Gorge Beds III and IV is essential for the study of the evolution of the African Acheulean between ∼1.3 Ma and 0.6 Ma. However, no further reexaminations of the lithic assemblages have been published after Mary Leakey's original work. In this article, we present an analysis of a part of these collections, with an emphasis on the microscopic and spatial analysis of percussive marks in the so-called pitted stones. To investigate the function of pitted stones and understand the formation process of depressions on lava cobbles, archaeological pitted stones were compared with experimental tools used in bipolar knapping, nut-cracking, and flake-splitting activities. Our results demonstrate that features of pitted stones remained homogeneous across Beds III and IV assemblages, with depressions preferentially located on the central areas of the tools and similar use-wear traces inside such depressions. Comparisons with the experimental collection demonstrate that these depressions are rapidly formed when splitting flakes, resulting in elongated morphologies similar to those documented in the archaeological tools. Our results are discussed within the context of other archaeological and nonhuman primate assemblages to further explore the function of pounding activities in which pitted stones could have potentially been involved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrián Arroyo
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES), Zona Educacional 4, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), Tarragona, 43007, Spain; Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Àrea de Prehistòria, Avinguda de Catalunya 35, Tarragona, 43002, Spain.
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7
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Luncz LV, Gill M, Proffitt T, Svensson MS, Kulik L, Malaivijitnond S. Group-specific archaeological signatures of stone tool use in wild macaques. eLife 2019; 8:46961. [PMID: 31635691 PMCID: PMC6805154 DOI: 10.7554/elife.46961] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2019] [Accepted: 10/04/2019] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Stone tools in the prehistoric record are the most abundant source of evidence for understanding early hominin technological and cultural variation. The field of primate archaeology is well placed to improve our scientific knowledge by using the tool behaviours of living primates as models to test hypotheses related to the adoption of tools by early stone-age hominins. Previously we have shown that diversity in stone tool behaviour between neighbouring groups of long-tailed macaques (Macaca-fascicularis) could be explained by ecological and environmental circumstances (Luncz et al., 2017b). Here however, we report archaeological evidence, which shows that the selection and reuse of tools cannot entirely be explained by ecological diversity. These results suggest that tool-use may develop differently within species of old-world monkeys, and that the evidence of material culture can differ within the same timeframe at local geographic scales and in spite of shared environmental and ecological settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lydia V Luncz
- Primate Models for Behavioural Evolution Lab, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Mike Gill
- Primate Models for Behavioural Evolution Lab, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Tomos Proffitt
- The Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Magdalena S Svensson
- Department of Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Lars Kulik
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Suchinda Malaivijitnond
- Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.,National Primate Research Centre of Thailand, Chulalongkorn University, Saraburi, Thailand
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8
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Falótico T, Proffitt T, Ottoni EB, Staff RA, Haslam M. Three thousand years of wild capuchin stone tool use. Nat Ecol Evol 2019; 3:1034-1038. [DOI: 10.1038/s41559-019-0904-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2019] [Accepted: 04/18/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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9
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Wild sea otter mussel pounding leaves archaeological traces. Sci Rep 2019; 9:4417. [PMID: 30872658 PMCID: PMC6418163 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-39902-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2018] [Accepted: 01/30/2019] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Wild sea otters (Enhydra lutris) are the only marine mammals that habitually use stones while foraging, using them to break open hard-shelled foods like marine snails and bivalves. However, the physical effects of this behavior on local environments are unknown. We show that sea otters pounding mussels on tidally emergent rocks leave distinct material traces, which can be recognized using methods from archaeology. We observed sea otters pounding mussels at the Bennett Slough Culverts site, California, USA, over a l0-year period. Sea otters repeatedly used the same rocks as anvils, which resulted in distinctive wear patterns on the rocks and accumulations of broken mussel shells, all fractured in a characteristic way, below them. Our results raise the potential for discovery of similar sea otter pounding sites in areas that no longer have resident sea otter populations.
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Proffitt T, Haslam M, Mercader J, Boesch C, Luncz L. Revisiting Panda 100, the first archaeological chimpanzee nut-cracking site. J Hum Evol 2018; 124:117-139. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.04.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2017] [Revised: 04/27/2018] [Accepted: 04/30/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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Pascual-Garrido A. Scars on plants sourced for termite fishing tools by chimpanzees: Towards an archaeology of the perishable. Am J Primatol 2018; 80:e22921. [PMID: 30281817 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.22921] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2018] [Revised: 08/10/2018] [Accepted: 08/28/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Chimpanzees are well-studied, but raw material acquisition for tool use is still poorly understood as sources are difficult to trace. This study pioneers the use of information that can be gleaned from plant scars made by chimpanzees while they source vegetation parts to manufacture termite fishing tools. Source plant species, raw material types and locations relative to targeted termite mounds were recorded for populations at Gombe, Issa, and Mahale in western Tanzania. Recovered bark, twig, and vine tools were traced to 29 plant species, while grass sources were indeterminable. Bark extraction scars remained detectable for months, and thus possibly for as long as the plant is alive, while twig and vine scars preserved for a few weeks only. Scars preserve better than tools, given that twice as many plant species could be linked to the former than to the latter. Some source species were exploited across all sites for the same type of tool material, while two species were sourced for different types. Compared to apes at Gombe and Mahale, Issa chimpanzees carried material from twice as far away, perhaps because the Issa habitat is more open and dry, which entails greater distances between suitable raw material sources and targeted mounds. Site-specific tools were based on different raw materials, in two cases sourced from the same species, which could suggest learned preferences for particular tool material. "Archaeology of the perishable" as pioneered in this study broadens the methodological approach of the wider field of primate archaeology to include reconstructions of past animal behavior associated with the production of plant based tools.
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Proffitt T, Luncz VL, Malaivijitnond S, Gumert M, Svensson MS, Haslam M. Analysis of wild macaque stone tools used to crack oil palm nuts. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2018; 5:171904. [PMID: 29657792 PMCID: PMC5882716 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.171904] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2017] [Accepted: 02/15/2018] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
The discovery of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) nut-cracking by wild long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) is significant for the study of non-human primate and hominin percussive behaviour. Up until now, only West African chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) and modern human populations were known to use stone hammers to crack open this particular hard-shelled palm nut. The addition of non-habituated, wild macaques increases our comparative dataset of primate lithic percussive behaviour focused on this one plant species. Here, we present an initial description of hammerstones used by macaques to crack oil palm nuts, recovered from active nut-cracking locations on Yao Noi Island, Ao Phang Nga National Park, Thailand. We combine a techno-typological approach with microscopic and macroscopic use-wear analysis of percussive damage to characterize the percussive signature of macaque palm oil nut-cracking tools. These artefacts are characterized by a high degree of battering and crushing on most surfaces, which is visible at both macro and microscopic levels. The degree and extent of this damage is a consequence of a dynamic interplay between a number of factors, including anvil morphology and macaque percussive techniques. Beyond the behavioural importance of these artefacts, macaque nut-cracking represents a new target for primate archaeological investigations, and opens new opportunities for comparisons between tool using primate species and with early hominin percussive behaviour, for which nut-cracking has been frequently inferred.
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Affiliation(s)
- T. Proffitt
- Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31–34 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PY, UK
| | - V. L. Luncz
- Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Oxford, 64 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 6PN, UK
| | - S. Malaivijitnond
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
- National Primate Research Centre of Thailand, Chulalongkorn University, Saraburi, Thailand
| | - M. Gumert
- School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637332, Singapore
| | - M. S. Svensson
- Department of Social Science, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK
| | - M. Haslam
- School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 2PG, UK
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DNA recovery from wild chimpanzee tools. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0189657. [PMID: 29298306 PMCID: PMC5751987 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0189657] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2017] [Accepted: 11/29/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Most of our knowledge of wild chimpanzee behaviour stems from fewer than 10 long-term field sites. This bias limits studies to a potentially unrepresentative set of communities known to show great behavioural diversity on small geographic scales. Here, we introduce a new genetic approach to bridge the gap between behavioural material evidence in unhabituated chimpanzees and genetic advances in the field of primatology. The use of DNA analyses has revolutionised archaeological and primatological fields, whereby extraction of DNA from non-invasively collected samples allows researchers to reconstruct behaviour without ever directly observing individuals. We used commercially available forensic DNA kits to show that termite-fishing by wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) leaves behind detectable chimpanzee DNA evidence on tools. We then quantified the recovered DNA, compared the yield to that from faecal samples, and performed an initial assessment of mitochondrial and microsatellite markers to identify individuals. From 49 termite-fishing tools from the Issa Valley research site in western Tanzania, we recovered an average of 52 pg/μl chimpanzee DNA, compared to 376.2 pg/μl in faecal DNA extracts. Mitochondrial DNA haplotypes could be assigned to 41 of 49 tools (84%). Twenty-six tool DNA extracts yielded >25 pg/μl DNA and were selected for microsatellite analyses; genotypes were determined with confidence for 18 tools. These tools were used by a minimum of 11 individuals across the study period and termite mounds. These results demonstrate the utility of bio-molecular techniques and a primate archaeology approach in non-invasive monitoring and behavioural reconstruction of unhabituated primate populations.
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Luncz LV, Proffitt T, Kulik L, Haslam M, Wittig RM. Distance-decay effect in stone tool transport by wild chimpanzees. Proc Biol Sci 2017; 283:rspb.2016.1607. [PMID: 28003445 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.1607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2016] [Accepted: 11/15/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Stone tool transport leaves long-lasting behavioural evidence in the landscape. However, it remains unknown how large-scale patterns of stone distribution emerge through undirected, short-term transport behaviours. One of the longest studied groups of stone-tool-using primates are the chimpanzees of the Taï National Park in Ivory Coast, West Africa. Using hammerstones left behind at chimpanzee Panda nut-cracking sites, we tested for a distance-decay effect, in which the weight of material decreases with increasing distance from raw material sources. We found that this effect exists over a range of more than 2 km, despite the fact that observed, short-term tool transport does not appear to involve deliberate movements away from raw material sources. Tools from the millennia-old Noulo site in the Taï forest fit the same pattern. The fact that chimpanzees show both complex short-term behavioural planning, and yet produce a landscape-wide pattern over the long term, raises the question of whether similar processes operate within other stone-tool-using primates, including hominins. Where hominin landscapes have discrete material sources, a distance-decay effect, and increasing use of stone materials away from sources, the Taï chimpanzees provide a relevant analogy for understanding the formation of those landscapes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lydia V Luncz
- Primate Archaeology Research Group, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Tomos Proffitt
- Primate Archaeology Research Group, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Lars Kulik
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.,Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Michael Haslam
- Primate Archaeology Research Group, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Roman M Wittig
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.,Taï Chimpanzee Project, Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
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15
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Tennie C, Premo LS, Braun DR, McPherron SP. Early Stone Tools and Cultural Transmission: Resetting the Null Hypothesis. CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY 2017. [DOI: 10.1086/693846] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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16
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Haslam M, Hernandez-Aguilar RA, Proffitt T, Arroyo A, Falótico T, Fragaszy D, Gumert M, Harris JWK, Huffman MA, Kalan AK, Malaivijitnond S, Matsuzawa T, McGrew W, Ottoni EB, Pascual-Garrido A, Piel A, Pruetz J, Schuppli C, Stewart F, Tan A, Visalberghi E, Luncz LV. Primate archaeology evolves. Nat Ecol Evol 2017; 1:1431-1437. [DOI: 10.1038/s41559-017-0286-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2017] [Accepted: 07/19/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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17
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Luncz LV, Tan A, Haslam M, Kulik L, Proffitt T, Malaivijitnond S, Gumert M. Resource depletion through primate stone technology. eLife 2017; 6:23647. [PMID: 28884681 PMCID: PMC5590808 DOI: 10.7554/elife.23647] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2016] [Accepted: 07/26/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Tool use has allowed humans to become one of the most successful species. However, tool-assisted foraging has also pushed many of our prey species to extinction or endangerment, a technology-driven process thought to be uniquely human. Here, we demonstrate that tool-assisted foraging on shellfish by long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) in Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park, Thailand, reduces prey size and prey abundance, with more pronounced effects where the macaque population size is larger. We compared availability, sizes and maturation stages of shellfish between two adjacent islands inhabited by different-sized macaque populations and demonstrate potential effects on the prey reproductive biology. We provide evidence that once technological macaques reach a large enough group size, they enter a feedback loop – driving shellfish prey size down with attendant changes in the tool sizes used by the monkeys. If this pattern continues, prey populations could be reduced to a point where tool-assisted foraging is no longer beneficial to the macaques, which in return may lessen or extinguish the remarkable foraging technology employed by these primates. Tools have helped us to become one of the most successful species on Earth. However, our use of tools for hunting and foraging has also caused many prey species to become endangered, or even extinct. In some cases, it has also led to evolutionary changes in prey species. For example, over-harvesting of shellfish in coastal areas has driven the shellfish to become smaller in size. Recently, long-tailed macaques living on islands off the coast of Thailand and Myanmar were also found to use stone tools to forage on shellfish. The macaques use these tools to break open oysters, snails and other prey on the seashore. Studying these monkeys offers the opportunity to test how a non-human primate using stone-based technology affects the sustainability of their prey species. Luncz et al. investigated how foraging with stone tools by long-tailed macaques living in Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park in Thailand affects local shellfish populations. This revealed that macaques using stone tools alter prey populations in a similar way to human technologies. Specifically, tool use by the macaques significantly reduced the numbers and size of the prey, especially on islands that were home to larger populations of monkeys. In return, the macaques responded by using smaller and smaller stone tools. This “feedback loop” could lead to the stone tools becoming less useful to the macaques to the point where they stop using them. An important next step is to learn whether continued foraging of shellfish might actually lead to the macaques losing the knowledge on how to use stone tools. Luncz et al. propose that since stone tools first emerged, the size of the tools and the prey species they target may have been gradually decreasing. Future archaeological investigations will clarify if this is indeed the case.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lydia V Luncz
- Institute for Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology, School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Amanda Tan
- Division of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Michael Haslam
- Primate Archaeology Research Group, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Lars Kulik
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Tomos Proffitt
- Primate Archaeology Research Group, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Suchinda Malaivijitnond
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.,National Primate Research Center of Thailand-Chulalongkorn University, Saraburi, Thailand
| | - Michael Gumert
- Division of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore.,Primate Archaeology Research Group, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.,Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
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18
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Luncz LV, Svensson MS, Haslam M, Malaivijitnond S, Proffitt T, Gumert M. Technological Response of Wild Macaques ( Macaca fascicularis) to Anthropogenic Change. INT J PRIMATOL 2017; 38:872-880. [PMID: 29056799 PMCID: PMC5629225 DOI: 10.1007/s10764-017-9985-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2017] [Accepted: 06/22/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Anthropogenic disturbances have a detrimental impact on the natural world; the vast expansion of palm oil monocultures is one of the most significant agricultural influences. Primates worldwide consequently have been affected by the loss of their natural ecosystems. Long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascilularis) in Southern Thailand have, however, learned to exploit oil palm nuts using stone tools. Using camera traps, we captured the stone tool behavior of one macaque group in Ao Phang-Nga National Park. Line transects placed throughout an abandoned oil palm plantation confirmed a high abundance of nut cracking sites. Long-tailed macaques previously have been observed using stone tools to harvest shellfish along the coasts of Thailand and Myanmar. The novel nut processing behavior indicates the successful transfer of existing lithic technology to a new food source. Such behavioral plasticity has been suggested to underlie cultural behavior in animals, suggesting that long-tailed macaques have potential to exhibit cultural tendencies. The use of tools to process oil palm nuts across multiple primate species allows direct comparisons between stone tool using nonhuman primates living in anthropogenic environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lydia V Luncz
- School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX2 6PE UK.,School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 2PG UK
| | - Magdalena S Svensson
- School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 2PG UK.,Department of Social Science, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, OX3 0BP UK
| | - Michael Haslam
- School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 2PG UK
| | - Suchinda Malaivijitnond
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330 Thailand.,National Primate Research Center of Thailand, Chulalongkorn University, Saraburi, Thailand
| | - Tomos Proffitt
- School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 2PG UK
| | - Michael Gumert
- School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 2PG UK.,School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 637332 Singapore
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19
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Abstract
Scenarios summarize evolutionary patterns and processes by interpreting organismal traits and their natural history correlates in a phylogenetic context. They are constructed by (1) describing phenotypes (including physiology and behavior), ideally with attention to formative roles of development, experience, and culture; (2) inferring homologies, homoplasies, ancestral character states, and their transformations with phylogenetic analyses; and (3) integrating those components with ecological and other ancillary data. At their best, evolutionary scenarios are factually dense narratives that entail no known falsehoods; their empirical and methodological shortcomings are transparent, they might be rejected based on new discoveries, and their potential ideological pitfalls are flagged for scrutiny. They are exemplified here by homoplastic foraging with percussive tools by humans, chimpanzees, capuchins, and macaques; homoplastic hunting with spears by humans and chimpanzees; and private experiences (e.g., sense of fairness, grief) among diverse animals, the homologous or homoplastic status of which often remains unexplored. Although scenarios are problematic when used to bolster political agendas, if constructed carefully and regarded skeptically, they can synthesize knowledge, inspire research, engender public understanding of evolution, enrich ethical debates, and provide a deeper historical context for conservation, including nature appreciation.
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20
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Falótico T, Spagnoletti N, Haslam M, Luncz LV, Malaivijitnond S, Gumert M. Analysis of sea almond (Terminalia catappa
) cracking sites used by wild Burmese long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis aurea
). Am J Primatol 2017; 79. [DOI: 10.1002/ajp.22629] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2016] [Revised: 11/08/2016] [Accepted: 11/13/2016] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Tiago Falótico
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art; University of Oxford; Oxford United Kingdom
- Institute of Psychology; University of São Paulo; São Paulo Brazil
| | - Noemi Spagnoletti
- Institute of Psychology; University of São Paulo; São Paulo Brazil
- Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie della Cognizione, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche; Rome Italy
| | - Michael Haslam
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art; University of Oxford; Oxford United Kingdom
| | - Lydia V. Luncz
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art; University of Oxford; Oxford United Kingdom
| | - Suchinda Malaivijitnond
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science; Chulalongkorn University; Bangkok Thailand
- National Primate Research Center of Thailand; Chulalongkorn University; Bangkok Thailand
| | - Michael Gumert
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art; University of Oxford; Oxford United Kingdom
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science; Chulalongkorn University; Bangkok Thailand
- Division of Psychology; School of Humanities and Social Sciences; Nanyang Technological University; Singapore Singapore
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