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Proffitt T, Pacome SS, Reeves JS, Wittig RM, Luncz LV. The archaeological visibility of chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) nut-cracking. J Hum Evol 2024; 195:103582. [PMID: 39213793 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103582] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2024] [Revised: 08/17/2024] [Accepted: 08/18/2024] [Indexed: 09/04/2024]
Abstract
The earliest evidence for complex tool use in the archaeological record dates to 3.3 Ma. While wooden tools may have been used by our earliest ancestors, the evidence is absent due to poor preservation. However, insights into possible early hominin wooden tool use can be gained from observing the tool-use practices of our closest living relatives, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). By using stone hammers used to crack various nuts, chimpanzees leave a durable material signature comprised of formal tools and associated diagnostic fragments. While the archaeological evidence of chimpanzee wooden tool use is temporary, the combination of stone hammers and wooden anvils can create a more enduring lithic record. This study explores the lithic assemblages associated with wooden and stone anvil use at nut-cracking sites in Taï National Park, Côte d'Ivoire, using technological and use-wear analyses. Our results indicate clear differences in density, fracture patterns, and use-wear in the lithic records between wooden anvil and stone anvil sites. New archaeological excavations at six chimpanzee nut-cracking sites reveal that the anvils' material directly influences the visibility of nut-cracking evidence in the archaeological record. By examining the nature of the lithic signatures associated with wooden anvil and stone anvil use by chimpanzees, we can formulate hypotheses about the probability of such behaviors being preserved and identifiable in the Plio-Pleistocene hominin archaeological record. The variability in material signatures from nut-cracking on different anvils suggests that stone anvils leave a clear archaeological record. Evidence for wooden anvil use is likely underrepresented due to the more ephemeral nature of the associated percussive damage and material signature. It may, however, still be possible, albeit challenging, to identify wooden anvil use in the archaeological record.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomos Proffitt
- Technological Primates Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig 04103, Germany; Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and the Evolution of Human Behaviour (ICArEHB), Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, Faro 8005-139, Portugal.
| | - Serge Soiret Pacome
- Centre de Recherche en Ecologie (CRE), Université Nangui Abrogoua, Abidjan, 08 BP 109 Abidjan 08, Côte d'Ivoire
| | - Jonathan S Reeves
- Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and the Evolution of Human Behaviour (ICArEHB), Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, Faro 8005-139, Portugal
| | - Roman M Wittig
- Ape Social Mind Lab, Institut des Sciences Cognitives, CNRS UMR 5229, 67 Boulevard Pinel, Bron 69675, France; Taï Chimpanzee Project, Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques, 01 BP 1301, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
| | - Lydia V Luncz
- Technological Primates Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig 04103, Germany
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Pascual-Garrido A, Carvalho S, Almeida-Warren K. Primate archaeology 3.0. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2024; 183:e24835. [PMID: 37671610 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24835] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2023] [Revised: 07/25/2023] [Accepted: 08/03/2023] [Indexed: 09/07/2023]
Abstract
The new field of primate archaeology investigates the technological behavior and material record of nonhuman primates, providing valuable comparative data on our understanding of human technological evolution. Yet, paralleling hominin archaeology, the field is largely biased toward the analysis of lithic artifacts. While valuable comparative data have been gained through an examination of extant nonhuman primate tool use and its archaeological record, focusing on this one single aspect provides limited insights. It is therefore necessary to explore to what extent other non-technological activities, such as non-tool aided feeding, traveling, social behaviors or ritual displays, leave traces that could be detected in the archaeological record. Here we propose four new areas of investigation which we believe have been largely overlooked by primate archaeology and that are crucial to uncovering the full archaeological potential of the primate behavioral repertoire, including that of our own: (1) Plant technology; (2) Archaeology beyond technology; (3) Landscape archaeology; and (4) Primate cultural heritage. We discuss each theme in the context of the latest developments and challenges, as well as propose future directions. Developing a more "inclusive" primate archaeology will not only benefit the study of primate evolution in its own right but will aid conservation efforts by increasing our understanding of changes in primate-environment interactions over time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alejandra Pascual-Garrido
- Primate Models for Behavioural Evolution Lab, Institute of Human Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Susana Carvalho
- Primate Models for Behavioural Evolution Lab, Institute of Human Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Interdisciplinary Centre for Archaeology and the Evolution of Human Behaviour, University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal
- Gorongosa National Park, Sofala, Mozambique
| | - Katarina Almeida-Warren
- Primate Models for Behavioural Evolution Lab, Institute of Human Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Interdisciplinary Centre for Archaeology and the Evolution of Human Behaviour, University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal
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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: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [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: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [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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