Monkey rock bashing resembles tools made by early human ancestors

Hefting a potato-size rock, wild long-tailed macaques ( Macaca fascicularis ) in Thailand smash oil palm nuts on stone anvils. As they pound away, sharp flakes sometimes fly off from their hammer stones— flakes that are “almost indistinguishable” from stone tools made by early human relatives more than 3 million years ago , according to a controversial new study . Indeed, the researchers argue, the monkeys’ flakes are so similar to our ancestors’ tools that many archaeologists would classify them as early stone tools without a second thought. The study , published today in Science Advances , adds to another recent finding that Brazilian white-faced capuchin monkeys also produce stone flakes . Together, they “show that human manipulative and cognitive skills are not necessary to produce stone tools,” says Ignacio de la Torre, an archaeologist at the Spanish National Research Council who was not involved with the work. Other archaeologists aren’t convinced, however. “Sure, some flakes at [ancient] archaeological sites may come from monkeys bashing rocks together and accidentally making flakes,” says Jason Lewis, a paleoanthropologist at Stony Brook University. “But that’s a hypothesis that needs to be tested.” The oldest described stone tools —consisting of flaked stones and anvils—date to 3.3 million years ago. They were discovered in Lomekwi, Ken...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research