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Journal Article
Wild monkeys flake stone tools
2016
Overview
Wild capuchin monkeys in Brazil deliberately break stones, unintentionally producing flakes similar to the ancient sharp-edged flakes characterized as intentionally produced Pliocene–Pleistocene hominin tools, although why they do so remains unclear.
Flaked stone artefacts, made by monkeys
In Brazil there are archaeological sites with abundant accumulations of chipped stones. The accumulation and the stones, if discovered in a three-million-year-old context in Africa, might be taken as evidence of an early stone tool culture. But in this instance the perpetrators have been caught in the act. This study reports observations of wild bearded capuchin monkeys (
Sapajus libidinosus
) deliberately breaking stones in Brazil's Serra da Capivara National Park. Why they do this is not clear, though they sometimes lick or sniff the crushed stone, prompting speculation that that they may be ingesting powdered quartz or lichens. However, the monkeys do not appear to use the sharp edges to cut or scrape other objects. These monkeys are the only non-hominin primates to interact with stone so frequently, and the fact that they produce accumulations of worked stone similar to those presumed elsewhere to represent the work of early hominins could help to inform interpretation of the human Palaeolithic record.
Our understanding of the emergence of technology shapes how we view the origins of humanity
1
,
2
. Sharp-edged stone flakes, struck from larger cores, are the primary evidence for the earliest stone technology
3
. Here we show that wild bearded capuchin monkeys (
Sapajus libidinosus
) in Brazil deliberately break stones, unintentionally producing recurrent, conchoidally fractured, sharp-edged flakes and cores that have the characteristics and morphology of intentionally produced hominin tools. The production of archaeologically visible cores and flakes is therefore no longer unique to the human lineage, providing a comparative perspective on the emergence of lithic technology. This discovery adds an additional dimension to interpretations of the human Palaeolithic record, the possible function of early stone tools, and the cognitive requirements for the emergence of stone flaking.
