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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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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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Musgrave S, Koni D, Morgan D, Sanz C. Planning abilities of wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) in tool-using contexts. Primates 2023:10.1007/s10329-023-01106-4. [PMID: 38103142 DOI: 10.1007/s10329-023-01106-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2022] [Accepted: 11/15/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023]
Abstract
Planning is a type of problem solving in which a course of future action is devised via mental computation. Potential advantages of planning for tool use include reduced effort to gather tools, closer alignment to an efficient tool design, and increased foraging efficiency. Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) in the Goualougo Triangle use a variety of different types of tools. We hypothesized that procurement strategy (brought to the termite nest, manufactured or acquired at the termite nest, or borrowed from others) reflects planning for current needs, with tool transport behavior varying by tool type and by age and sex class. It is also possible that chimpanzees anticipate the need for tools at future times, which would be evidenced by transporting multiple tool types for a sequential task. One year of video recordings at termite nests were systematically screened for tool procurement; data comprised 299 tool procurement events across 66 chimpanzees. In addition, we screened video recordings of leaf sponging and honey gathering, which resulted in another 38 procurement events. Fishing probes, which are typically used during a single visit, were typically transported to termite nests, while puncturing tools, which are durable and remain on site, were more often acquired at termite nests. Most tools transported in multiples were fishing probes, perhaps in anticipation that a single probe might not last through an entire foraging bout or might be transferred to another chimpanzee. We further documented that chimpanzees transported tool sets, comprising multiple different tool types used in sequence. Mature chimpanzees transported tools more often than did immatures. These observations suggest that chimpanzees plan tool use flexibly, reflecting the availability of raw materials and the likelihood that specific tool types will be needed for particular tasks. Developmental studies and further integration of behavioral, spatial, and archaeological data will help to illuminate the decision making and time depth of planning associated with tool technologies in living primates and hominin ancestors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie Musgrave
- Department of Anthropology, University of Miami, P.O. Box 248106, Coral Gables, FL, 33124-2005, USA.
| | - David Koni
- Wildlife Conservation Society, Congo Program, B.P. 14537, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo
| | - David Morgan
- Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes, Lincoln Park Zoo, 2001 N. Clark Street, Chicago, IL, 60614, USA
| | - Crickette Sanz
- Wildlife Conservation Society, Congo Program, B.P. 14537, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo
- Department of Anthropology, Washington University in Saint Louis, 1 Brookings Drive, Saint Louis, MO, 63130, USA
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Schubotz RI, Ebel SJ, Elsner B, Weiss PH, Wörgötter F. Tool mastering today - an interdisciplinary perspective. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1191792. [PMID: 37397285 PMCID: PMC10311916 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1191792] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2023] [Accepted: 05/19/2023] [Indexed: 07/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Tools have coined human life, living conditions, and culture. Recognizing the cognitive architecture underlying tool use would allow us to comprehend its evolution, development, and physiological basis. However, the cognitive underpinnings of tool mastering remain little understood in spite of long-time research in neuroscientific, psychological, behavioral and technological fields. Moreover, the recent transition of tool use to the digital domain poses new challenges for explaining the underlying processes. In this interdisciplinary review, we propose three building blocks of tool mastering: (A) perceptual and motor abilities integrate to tool manipulation knowledge, (B) perceptual and cognitive abilities to functional tool knowledge, and (C) motor and cognitive abilities to means-end knowledge about tool use. This framework allows for integrating and structuring research findings and theoretical assumptions regarding the functional architecture of tool mastering via behavior in humans and non-human primates, brain networks, as well as computational and robotic models. An interdisciplinary perspective also helps to identify open questions and to inspire innovative research approaches. The framework can be applied to studies on the transition from classical to modern, non-mechanical tools and from analogue to digital user-tool interactions in virtual reality, which come with increased functional opacity and sensorimotor decoupling between tool user, tool, and target. By working towards an integrative theory on the cognitive architecture of the use of tools and technological assistants, this review aims at stimulating future interdisciplinary research avenues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ricarda I. Schubotz
- Department of Biological Psychology, Institute for Psychology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Sonja J. Ebel
- Human Biology & Primate Cognition, Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Birgit Elsner
- Developmental Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Peter H. Weiss
- Cognitive Neurology, Department of Neurology, University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-3), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
| | - Florentin Wörgötter
- Inst. of Physics 3 and Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Georg August University Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
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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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Bohn M, Eckert J, Hanus D, Lugauer B, Holtmann J, Haun DBM. Great ape cognition is structured by stable cognitive abilities and predicted by developmental conditions. Nat Ecol Evol 2023; 7:927-938. [PMID: 37106158 PMCID: PMC10250201 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02050-8] [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: 08/26/2022] [Accepted: 03/28/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023]
Abstract
Great ape cognition is used as a reference point to specify the evolutionary origins of complex cognitive abilities, including in humans. This research often assumes that great ape cognition consists of cognitive abilities (traits) that account for stable differences between individuals, which change and develop in response to experience. Here, we test the validity of these assumptions by assessing repeatability of cognitive performance among captive great apes (Gorilla gorilla, Pongo abelii, Pan paniscus, Pan troglodytes) in five tasks covering a range of cognitive domains. We examine whether individual characteristics (age, group, test experience) or transient situational factors (life events, testing arrangements or sociality) influence cognitive performance. Our results show that task-level performance is generally stable over time; four of the five tasks were reliable measurement tools. Performance in the tasks was best explained by stable differences in cognitive abilities (traits) between individuals. Cognitive abilities were further correlated, suggesting shared cognitive processes. Finally, when predicting cognitive performance, we found stable individual characteristics to be more important than variables capturing transient experience. Taken together, this study shows that great ape cognition is structured by stable cognitive abilities that respond to different developmental conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Bohn
- Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Johanna Eckert
- Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Daniel Hanus
- Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Benedikt Lugauer
- Wilhelm Wundt Institute of Psychology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jana Holtmann
- Wilhelm Wundt Institute of Psychology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Daniel B M Haun
- Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Leipzig Research Centre for Early Child Development, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
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Ellen R. Describing and Conceptualizing Minimal Tools in an Ethnographic Setting: Implications for Understanding Technological Systems Holistically. JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2022. [DOI: 10.1086/721966] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Roy Ellen
- School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NR, UK
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Luncz LV, Braun DR, Marreiros J, Bamford M, Zeng C, Pacome SS, Junghenn P, Buckley Z, Yao X, Carvalho S. Chimpanzee wooden tool analysis advances the identification of percussive technology. iScience 2022; 25:105315. [PMID: 36304114 PMCID: PMC9593238 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2022] [Revised: 09/09/2022] [Accepted: 10/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability of humans to mediate environmental variation through tool use is likely the key to our success. However, our current knowledge of early cultural evolution derives almost exclusively from studies of stone tools and fossil bones found in the archaeological record. Tools made of plants are intrinsically perishable, and as such are almost entirely absent in the early record of human material culture. Modern human societies as well as nonhuman primate species use plant materials for tools far more often than stone, suggesting that current archaeological data are missing a substantial component of ancient technology. Here, we develop methods that quantify internal and external damage pattern in percussive wooden tools of living primates. Our work shows that the inflicted damage is irreversible, potentially persisting throughout fossilization processes. This research presents opportunities to investigate organic artifacts, a significant and highly neglected aspect of technological evolution within the Primate order. Chimpanzee percussive foraging leaves permanent damage on wooden tools Percussive activities leave diagnostic patterns visible in 2D images and 3D surfaces Machine learning can diagnose damage patterns even when details are obscured Percussive activities produce irreversible damage to the internal structure of wood
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Affiliation(s)
- Lydia V. Luncz
- Technological Primates Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig 04103, Germany,Primate Models for Behavioral Evolution Lab, Institute of Human Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford OX26PN, UK,Corresponding author
| | - David R. Braun
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
| | - Joao Marreiros
- Laboratory for Traceology and Controlled Experiments, MONREPOS-RGZM, Schloss Monrepos, Neuwied, 56567, Germany,ICArEHB, Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behavior FCHS, Universidade do Algarve, Faro 8005, Portugal
| | - Marion Bamford
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2000, South Africa
| | - Chen Zeng
- Department of Physics and Data Science Program, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
| | | | - Patrick Junghenn
- Department of Physics and Data Science Program, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
| | - Zachary Buckley
- Department of Physics and Data Science Program, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
| | - Xinyu Yao
- Department of Physics and Data Science Program, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
| | - Susana Carvalho
- Primate Models for Behavioral Evolution Lab, Institute of Human Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford OX26PN, UK,ICArEHB, Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behavior FCHS, Universidade do Algarve, Faro 8005, Portugal,Gorongosa National Park, Sofala, Mozambique
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Proffitt T, Reeves JS, Pacome SS, Luncz LV. Identifying functional and regional differences in chimpanzee stone tool technology. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022; 9:220826. [PMID: 36147934 PMCID: PMC9490349 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.220826] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2022] [Accepted: 07/29/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
The earliest hominin archaeological sites preserve a record of stone tools used for cutting and pounding. Traditionally, sharp-edged flakes were seen as the primary means by which our earliest ancestors interacted with the world. The importance of pounding tools is increasingly apparent. In some cases, they have been compared with stone hammers and anvils used by chimpanzees for nut-cracking. However, there has been little focus on providing a robust descriptive and quantitative characterization of chimpanzee stone tools, allowing for meaningful comparisons between chimpanzee groups and with archaeological artefacts. Here we apply a primate archaeological approach to characterize the range of chimpanzee nut-cracking stone tools from Djouroutou in the Taï National Park. By combining a techno-typological analysis, and two- and three-dimensional measures of damage, we identify clear differences in the location and extent of damage between nut-cracking hammerstones and anvils used at Djouroutou and when compared with other wild chimpanzee populations. Furthermore, we discuss these results in relation to interpretations of Plio-Pleistocene percussive technology. We highlight potential difficulties in identifying the underlying function of percussive artefacts based on morphological or techno-typological attributes alone. The material record from Djouroutou represents an important new datum of chimpanzee regional and material culture.
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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
| | - Soiret Serge Pacome
- Laboratoire de Zoologie et de Biologie Animale, Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan, 22 BP 582 Abidjan 22, Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa
| | - Lydia. V. Luncz
- Technological Primates Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
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Stone tools differences across three capuchin monkey populations: food's physical properties, ecology, and culture. Sci Rep 2022; 12:14365. [PMID: 35999444 PMCID: PMC9399116 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-18661-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2021] [Accepted: 08/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Robust capuchin monkeys (Sapajus) are known for processing mechanically challenging foods, having morphological adaptations to do so. However, several populations go beyond body limitations by using stone tools to expand their food range. Those populations use stones in a variety of ways, goals, and with different frequencies. Stone tool size correlates with the food's resistance within some populations. However, we have no detailed comparisons to identify if this correlation is the same across populations. This study described and compared stone raw material availability, food's physical properties (hardness and elasticity), and stone tool weight in three populations of bearded capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus), including a newly described site (Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park, CVNP). The differences we observed regarding stone tool weight selection among sites were not correlated to the food's physical properties we analyzed. Lithic resource availability could partly explain some differences in the stone tools used. However, the tool weight differences are larger than the raw material variance across sites, meaning some distinctions are possible behavioral traditions, such as the same fruit (Hymenaea) being processed with bigger than needed tools in CVNP than in the other two sites. Capuchin monkey behavioral variability in stone tool use can be caused by several interacting factors, from ecological to cultural.
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12
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Haslam M. Insights from orangutans into the evolution of tool use. Nature 2022; 604:427-428. [PMID: 35413997 DOI: 10.1038/d41586-022-00872-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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13
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Motes-Rodrigo A, McPherron SP, Archer W, Hernandez-Aguilar RA, Tennie C. Experimental investigation of orangutans' lithic percussive and sharp stone tool behaviours. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0263343. [PMID: 35171926 PMCID: PMC8849460 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0263343] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2021] [Accepted: 01/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Early stone tools, and in particular sharp stone tools, arguably represent one of the most important technological milestones in human evolution. The production and use of sharp stone tools significantly widened the ecological niche of our ancestors, allowing them to exploit novel food resources. However, despite their importance, it is still unclear how these early lithic technologies emerged and which behaviours served as stepping-stones for the development of systematic lithic production in our lineage. One approach to answer this question is to collect comparative data on the stone tool making and using abilities of our closest living relatives, the great apes, to reconstruct the potential stone-related behaviours of early hominins. To this end, we tested both the individual and the social learning abilities of five orangutans to make and use stone tools. Although the orangutans did not make sharp stone tools initially, three individuals spontaneously engaged in lithic percussion, and sharp stone pieces were produced under later experimental conditions. Furthermore, when provided with a human-made sharp stone, one orangutan spontaneously used it as a cutting tool. Contrary to previous experiments, social demonstrations did not considerably improve the stone tool making and using abilities of orangutans. Our study is the first to systematically investigate the stone tool making and using abilities of untrained, unenculturated orangutans showing that two proposed pre-requisites for the emergence of early lithic technologies-lithic percussion and the recognition of sharp-edged stones as cutting tools-are present in this species. We discuss the implications that ours and previous great ape stone tool experiments have for understanding the initial stages of lithic technologies in our lineage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alba Motes-Rodrigo
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Shannon P. McPherron
- Department of Human Evolution, The Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Will Archer
- Department of Human Evolution, The Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, Max Planck Partner Group, National Museum, Bloemfontein, South Africa
| | - R. Adriana Hernandez-Aguilar
- Department of Social Psychology and Quantitative Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Department of Biosciences, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Claudio Tennie
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Department of Human Evolution, The Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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14
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15
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Viciana H. Animal culture: But of which kind? STUDIES IN HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE 2021; 90:208-218. [PMID: 34735960 DOI: 10.1016/j.shpsa.2021.10.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2020] [Revised: 10/14/2021] [Accepted: 10/17/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Is animal culture a real entity or is it rather just in the eye of the beholder? The concept of culture began to be increasingly used in the context of animal behaviour research around the 1960s. Despite its success, it is not clear that it represents what philosophers have traditionally thought to be a natural kind. In this article I will show, however, how conceiving of animal culture in this fashion has played a role in the "culture wars", and what lessons we can draw from this. First, an analysis of the epistemological landscape of author keywords related to the concept of animal cultures is presented, thus vindicating the centrality of the concept in describing a broad range of findings. A minimal definition that encompasses the multiple strands of research incorporating the notion of culture is proposed. I then systematically enumerate the ways in which culture thus conceived cannot be considered a natural kind in the study of animal behaviour. This is accomplished by reviewing the efforts and possibilities of anchoring the elusive idea in specific mechanisms, homologies, selection pressures, homeostatic property clusters, or alternatively, its reduction or elimination. Finally, a plausible interpretation of the scientific status of the animal culture concept is suggested that is compatible with both its well established use in animal behaviour research and its inferential limitations. Culture plays the role of a well-established epistemic kind, a node that connects different areas of research on common themes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hugo Viciana
- Departamento de Filosofía, Lógica y Filosofía de la Ciencia, Universidad de Sevilla, 41018, Sevilla, Spain.
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16
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Abstract
The ability to modify the environment through the transport of tools has been instrumental in shaping the evolutionary success of humans. Understanding the cause-and-effect relationships between hominin behavior and the environment ultimately requires understanding of how the archaeological record forms. Observations of living primates can shed light on these interactions by investigating how tool-use behaviors produce a material record within specific environmental contexts. However, this requires reconciling data derived from primate behavioral observations with the time-averaged nature of the Plio-Pleistocene archaeological record. Here, we use an agent-based model to investigate how repeated short-distance transport events, characteristic for primate tool use, can result in significant landscape-scale patterning of material culture over time. Our results illustrate the conditions under which accumulated short-distance transport bouts can displace stone tools over long distances. We show that this widespread redistribution of tools can also increase access to tool require resources over time. As such, these results elucidate the niche construction processes associated with this pattern of tool transport. Finally, the structure of the subsequent material record largely depends on the interaction between tool transport and environmental conditions over time. Though these results have implications for inferring hominin tool transports from hominin archaeological assemblages. Furthermore, they highlight the difficulties with connecting specific behavioral processes with the patterning in the archaeological record.
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Urbani B. Archaeoprimatology: The Longue Durée Interface Between Humans and Nonhuman Primates. ANNUAL REVIEW OF ANTHROPOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1146/annurev-anthro-101819-110130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Archaeoprimatology explores how humans and nonhuman primates coexisted in the past. This discipline has profound roots in texts of early scholars. Archaeoprimatological research examines the liminality between humans, apes, monkeys, and prosimians deep in time before the rise of the Anthropocene. By exploring the beginning of the relationship between modern Homo sapiens and primates, which possibly dates to approximately 100,000 BCE, I survey the evidence, ranging from portable objects and 2D surfaces with primatomorphic depictions to primate remains at archaeological sites worldwide. For example, an overview of ancient frescoes and mosaics with primate representations reveals that the vast majority of them were rendered in locations where primates were not part of the local fauna. An extensive review of primates in the zooarchaeological record shows as a global pattern that traded primates were usually young individuals and frugivorous/omnivorous species. Local primates yielded at sites of regions they naturally inhabited were mostly hunted. Thus, examining past patterns of the human–nonhuman primate interface provides insight into major questions about human niche construction and primate conservation today.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bernardo Urbani
- Center for Anthropology, Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research, Caracas 1020, Venezuela
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Orban GA, Sepe A, Bonini L. Parietal maps of visual signals for bodily action planning. Brain Struct Funct 2021; 226:2967-2988. [PMID: 34508272 PMCID: PMC8541987 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-021-02378-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2021] [Accepted: 09/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
The posterior parietal cortex (PPC) has long been understood as a high-level integrative station for computing motor commands for the body based on sensory (i.e., mostly tactile and visual) input from the outside world. In the last decade, accumulating evidence has shown that the parietal areas not only extract the pragmatic features of manipulable objects, but also subserve sensorimotor processing of others’ actions. A paradigmatic case is that of the anterior intraparietal area (AIP), which encodes the identity of observed manipulative actions that afford potential motor actions the observer could perform in response to them. On these bases, we propose an AIP manipulative action-based template of the general planning functions of the PPC and review existing evidence supporting the extension of this model to other PPC regions and to a wider set of actions: defensive and locomotor actions. In our model, a hallmark of PPC functioning is the processing of information about the physical and social world to encode potential bodily actions appropriate for the current context. We further extend the model to actions performed with man-made objects (e.g., tools) and artifacts, because they become integral parts of the subject’s body schema and motor repertoire. Finally, we conclude that existing evidence supports a generally conserved neural circuitry that transforms integrated sensory signals into the variety of bodily actions that primates are capable of preparing and performing to interact with their physical and social world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guy A Orban
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, via Volturno 39/E, 43125, Parma, Italy.
| | - Alessia Sepe
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, via Volturno 39/E, 43125, Parma, Italy
| | - Luca Bonini
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, via Volturno 39/E, 43125, Parma, Italy.
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20
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Romano V, Lozano S, Fernández‐López de Pablo J. A multilevel analytical framework for studying cultural evolution in prehistoric hunter-gatherer societies. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2020; 95:1020-1035. [PMID: 32237025 PMCID: PMC7383820 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12599] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2019] [Revised: 03/10/2020] [Accepted: 03/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Over the past decade, a major debate has taken place on the underpinnings of cultural changes in human societies. A growing array of evidence in behavioural and evolutionary biology has revealed that social connectivity among populations and within them affects, and is affected by, culture. Yet the interplay between prehistoric hunter-gatherer social structure and cultural transmission has typically been overlooked. Interestingly, the archaeological record contains large data sets, allowing us to track cultural changes over thousands of years: they thus offer a unique opportunity to shed light on long-term cultural transmission processes. In this review, we demonstrate how well-developed methods for social structure analysis can increase our understanding of the selective pressures underlying cumulative culture. We propose a multilevel analytical framework that considers finer aspects of the complex social structure in which regional groups of prehistoric hunter-gatherers were embedded. We put forward predictions of cultural transmission based on local- and global-level network metrics of small-scale societies and their potential effects on cumulative culture. By bridging the gaps between network science, palaeodemography and cultural evolution, we draw attention to the use of the archaeological record to depict patterns of social interactions and transmission variability. We argue that this new framework will contribute to improving our understanding of social interaction patterns, as well as the contexts in which cultural changes occur. Ultimately, this may provide insights into the evolution of human behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valéria Romano
- Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Arqueología y Patrimonio Histórico (INAPH)Universidad de Alicante, Edificio Institutos Universitarios03690San Vicente del RaspeigAlicanteSpain
- Institut Català de Paleoecología Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES), Edificio W3, Campus Sescelades URV, Zona Educacional 443007TarragonaSpain
| | - Sergi Lozano
- Institut Català de Paleoecología Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES), Edificio W3, Campus Sescelades URV, Zona Educacional 443007TarragonaSpain
- Departament d'Història Econòmica, Institucions, Política i Economia MundialUniversitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 69008034BarcelonaSpain
- Universitat de Barcelona Institute of Complex Systems (UBICS)Universitat de Barcelona, Martí Franqués 108028BarcelonaSpain
| | - Javier Fernández‐López de Pablo
- Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Arqueología y Patrimonio Histórico (INAPH)Universidad de Alicante, Edificio Institutos Universitarios03690San Vicente del RaspeigAlicanteSpain
- Institut Català de Paleoecología Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES), Edificio W3, Campus Sescelades URV, Zona Educacional 443007TarragonaSpain
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Mazumder J, Kaburu SSK. Object Manipulation and Tool Use in Nicobar Long-Tailed Macaques
(Macaca fascicularis umbrosus). INT J PRIMATOL 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s10764-020-00141-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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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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Vandervert L. How Prediction Based on Sequence Detection in the Cerebellum Led to the Origins of Stone Tools, Language, and Culture and, Thereby, to the Rise of Homo sapiens. Front Cell Neurosci 2018; 12:408. [PMID: 30483059 PMCID: PMC6243095 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2018.00408] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2018] [Accepted: 10/22/2018] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
This article extends Leiner et al.'s watershed position that cerebellar mechanisms played prominent roles in the evolution of the manipulation and refinement of ideas and language. First it is shown how cerebellar mechanism of sequence-detection may lead to the foundational learning of a predictive working memory in the infant. Second, it is argued how this same cerebellar mechanism may have led to the adaptive selection toward the progressively predictive phonological loop in the evolution of working memory of pre-humans. Within these contexts, cerebellar sequence detection is then applied to an analysis of leading anthropologists Stout and Hecht's cerebral cortex-based explanation of the evolution of culture and language through the repetitious rigors of stone-tool knapping. It is argued that Stout and Hecht's focus on the roles of areas of the brain's cerebral cortex is seriously lacking, because it can be readily shown that cerebellar sequence detection importantly (perhaps predominantly) provides more fundamental explanations for the origins of culture and language. It is shown that the cerebellum does this in the following ways: (1) through prediction-enhancing silent speech in working memory, (2) through prediction in observational learning, and (3) through prediction leading to accuracy in stone-tool knapping. It is concluded, in agreement with Leiner et al. that the more recently proposed mechanism of cerebellar sequence-detection has played a prominent role in the evolution of culture, language, and stone-tool technology, the earmarks of Homo sapiens. It is further concluded that through these same mechanisms the cerebellum continues to play a prominent role in the relentless advancement of culture.
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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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Lewis K. Finding Archaeology in 2017: What Is Archaeology and Why Are We Doing It? Why Should We Be Doing It? AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/aman.13049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Krista Lewis
- Department of Anthropology; University of Arkansas at Little Rock; AR 72204 USA
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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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