While humans have been acknowledged as rock tool users during the Stone Age, studies show that people were not the only ones who used such durable and innovative tools. According to Live Science, there are other interesting primates who have delved into stone tool usage as well.
Animals That Employed Stone Tools
Archaeological remnants have revealed that capuchin monkeys, long-tailed macaques, and chimpanzees have all used stone tools at some point in the past. Live Science reports further how sea otters could be the next addition to the list.
Among each primate species, the use of stone tools is a behavior that was socially learned. Primate archaeologist Katarina Almedia-Warren of the University of Oxford notes how the usage of such tools has become culturally significant. Live Science also notes how various animal groups utilize various tools. For instance, some groups of chimpanzees use a rock slammed onto another rock in order to crush some nuts. Such tools mirror hammers and anvils.
According to a 2007 PNAS study, Ivory Coast chimpanzees wielded such tools roughly 4,300 years ago. The researchers noted how this stone age of chimpanzees goes before the settlements of farming areas in this particular region of the African rainforest.
Brazil-based capuchin monkeys have also used rock tools to crack nuts. In fact, researchers found the stones that such capuchins used to crack nuts around 3,000 years ago. With the changing of their food, the style of their tools has changed as well. This was according to a Nature Ecology and Evolution journal.
Other than these findings, a research team also discovered the rock tools that Burmese long-tailed macaques once used to break shells open. Live Science notes how such tools were likely used from 1950 to 2004. This was based on a 2016 study from the Journal of Human Evolution.
Mystery of Stone Tool Usage
Live Science notes how there is still uncertainty surrounding how such primates ended up employing such tools. Tiago Falótico, capuchin study author, primatologist, and biologist, notes how there is a certain mystique to such stone tools. He notes, however, that entering the stone age does not indicate that the animal group will not succeed in human footsteps. The findings also do not mean that users of such tools are smarter than other animals who use tools.
Rather than this, Falótico notes how stone tools are important to the scientific community because of their lasting nature. Being able to see such tools in excavations is important for anthropologists and archaeologists.
Beyond Stone Tool Usage
While stone tools were vital for survival, Almeida-Warren notes that humans did not just use stones. This is true for other "stone age" species as well.
Chimpanzees, for instance, also used bark to catch termites. They also used plants with medicinal properties to treat their wounds. Almeida-Warren notes how plant tools are usually more complex.
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