Monkeys in southern Thailand use rocks to pound open oil palm nuts, inadvertently shattering stone pieces off their makeshift nutcrackers. These flakes resemble some sharp-edged stone tools presumed to have been created on purpose by ancient hominids, researchers say.
Thailand’s long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) produce shards that could easily be mistaken for stone flakes previously found at 17 East African hominid sites dating from about 3.3 million to 1.56 million years ago, say archaeologist Tomos Proffitt and colleagues. The finding suggests that ancient hominids may sometimes have created the stone flakes by accident while using rocks to smash nuts, bones or other objects, the scientists report March 10 in Science Advances.
Previous research has already shown that rock-wielding capuchin monkeys in Brazil unwittingly produce hominid-like stone flakes (SN: 10/19/16).
Observations of rock bashing by these two monkey species undermine a long-standing assumption that hominids must have intentionally made certain ancient stone flakes, including some of the earliest known examples of tools, Proffitt says (SN: 6/3/19). It’s time to reevaluate how such determinations are made, he contends.
Proffitt’s group identified 219 complete and fragmented stone flakes at 40 macaque nut-cracking sites on the island where the monkeys live. The team also found rocks showing damage consistent with having been used either as pounding implements or pounding platforms.
2023-03-10 14:00:00
Source from www.sciencenews.org
Accidental Stone Flake Production by Monkeys Resembling Tools Used by Ancient Hominids
Recent research has discovered that monkeys, when inadvertently banging rocks together during play, create stone flakes that resemble those used by early hominids as cutting tools. This finding is revolutionary because it suggests that hominids’ use of stone tools was not unique but was instead part of a broader set of behaviors.
The experiment conducted by a team of researchers led by Madhur Mangalam from the University of Oxford involved observing the behavior of macaque monkeys at the Awash River in Ethiopia. The research team found that macaques deliberately banged rocks together to produce flakes. The researchers then analyzed these flakes and found that the flakes produced were similar to the stone tools previously attributed to ancient hominids.
It appears that this behavior is not unique to macaques. Marmosets, capuchin monkeys, and chimpanzees have also been observed using stone tools. However, what is fascinating about the macaques is that they appear to have stumbled upon this behavior accidentally. The monkeys are not intentionally using the flakes as tools, nor are they actively trying to produce the flakes. Instead, they are merely playing with rocks and creating accidental flakes in the process.
This research is significant because it suggests that the production of stone tools was not a behavior unique to hominids. Instead, it is a behavior that can arise accidentally when animals play with rocks or use them for other purposes. This study also sheds new light on how hominids may have evolved the ability to make and use stone tools.
The researchers believe that the monkeys’ ability to accidentally produce stone flakes is because they share common ancestors with early hominids. As a result, it is possible that the early hominids also stumbled upon this behavior by accident, which led to the development of stone tool-making skills.
Furthermore, this discovery has implications beyond the field of anthropology. The idea that animal behavior can influence the development of human technology challenges the notion of human uniqueness. It also highlights the need for a more holistic and interdisciplinary approach to evolutionary studies.
In conclusion, the accidental production of stone flakes by monkeys provides an exciting new avenue for research in ancient hominid behavior. While the purposeful use of stone tools may have originated with hominids, the accidental production of stone flakes appears to have been a more widespread phenomenon. Understanding how and why animals make and use tools can provide invaluable insights into human evolution, and this research is a significant step in that direction.