Surprising similarities in stone tools of early humans and monkeys
Accidentally produced stone fragments made by macaques resemble some of
the earliest hominin stone artifacts

Date:
March 10, 2023
Source:
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Summary:
Researchers have discovered artefacts produced by old world monkeys
in Thailand that resemble stone tools, which historically have been
identified as intentionally made by early hominins. Until now,
sharp- edged stone tools were thought to represent the onset of
intentional stone tool production, one of the defining and unique
characteristics of hominin evolution. This new study challenges
long held beliefs about the origins of intentional tool production
in our own lineage.


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FULL STORY ========================================================================== Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
have discovered artefacts produced by old world monkeys in Thailand
that resemble stone tools, which historically have been identified as intentionally made by early hominins. Until now, sharp-edged stone tools
were thought to represent the onset of intentional stone tool production,
one of the defining and unique characteristics of hominin evolution. This
new study challenges long held beliefs about the origins of intentional
tool production in our own lineage.


==========================================================================
The research is based on new analyses of stone tools used by long-tailed macaques in the Phang Nga National Park in Thailand. These monkeys
use stone tools to crack open hard-shelled nuts. In that process,
the monkeys often break their hammerstones and anvils. The resulting
assemblage of broken stones is substantial and widespread across the
landscape. Moreover, many of these artefacts bear all of the same characteristics that are commonly used to identify intentionally made
stone tools in some of the earliest archaeological sites in East Africa.

"The ability to intentionally make sharp stone flakes is seen as a
crucial point in the evolution of hominins, and understanding how and
when this occurred is a huge question that is typically investigated
through the study of past artefacts and fossils. Our study shows that
stone tool production is not unique to humans and our ancestors," says
lead author Tomos Proffitt, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute
for Evolutionary Anthropology. "The fact that these macaques use stone
tools to process nuts is not surprising, as they also use tools to gain
access to various shellfish as well. What is interesting is that, in
doing so they accidently produce a substantial archaeological record of
their own that is partly indistinguishable from some hominin artefacts."
New insights into the evolution of stone tool technology By comparing
the accidentally produced stone fragments made by the macaques with
those from some of the earliest archaeological sites, the researchers
were able to show that many of the artefacts produced by monkeys fall
within the range of those commonly associated with early hominins. Co-lead author Jonathan Reeves highlights: "The fact that these artifacts can be produced through nut cracking has implications for the range of behaviours
we associate with sharp edged flakes in the archaeological record.."
The newly discovered macaque stone tools offer new insights into how the
first technology might have started in our earliest ancestors and that
its origin may have been linked to similar nut cracking behaviour which
could be substantially older than the current earliest archaeological
record. "Cracking nuts using stone hammers and anvils, similar to what
some primates do today, has been suggested by some as a possible precursor
to intentional stone tool production.

This study, along with previous ones published by our group, opens the
door to being able to identify such an archaeological signature in the
future," says Lydia Luncz, senior author of the study and head of the Technological Primates Research Group at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. "This discovery shows how living primates
can help researchers investigate the origin and evolution of tool use
in our own lineage."
* RELATED_TOPICS
o Plants_&_Animals
# Monkeys # Evolutionary_Biology # Birds
o Earth_&_Climate
# Weather # Climate # Recycling_and_Waste
o Fossils_&_Ruins
# Cultures # Evolution # Early_Humans
* RELATED_TERMS
o Stone_tool o Stone_Age o Rosetta_Stone o Jane_Goodall o
Homo_heidelbergensis o Artifact_(archaeology) o Homo_ergaster
o Human_evolution

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Max_Planck_Institute_for_Evolutionary_Anthropology. Note: Content may
be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Related Multimedia:
* Long-tailed_macaque_using_a_stone_tool_to_access_food ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Tomos Proffitt, Jonathan S. Reeves, David R. Braun, Suchinda
Malaivijitnond, Lydia V. Luncz. Wild macaques challenge the
origin of intentional tool production. Science Advances, 2023 DOI:
10.1126/ sciadv.ade8159 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230310143653.htm

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