You people just don't remember your teachers …
New archaeological evidence has come to light that Brazilian Capuchin monkeys have been using rocks to chop cashew nuts as early as 700 years ago. These are the earliest examples of primate use of stone tools outside of Africa, and they raise questions about the origins and distribution of New World monkey use of stones as tools. Could early humans, in turn, observe the behavior of monkeys and adopt their techniques for handling stones?..
Discovery at the expense of scientists from Oxford (UK) and the University of São Paulo (Brazil) under the leadership of Michael Haslam from Oxford, who previously obtained 10 and 50 year archaeological evidence of the use of stone tools by wild macaques on the coast of Thailand for picking shellfish and nuts.
Scientists have observed groups of Capuchin monkeys in the Sierra da Capivara National Park in Brazil and compared these observations with archaeological evidence from the same location. Modern wild Capuchins used stone tools like hand hammers and anvils to chop hard foods such as seeds and cashews. At the same time, young individuals learned this art from the old Capuchins.
The Capuchins even have places called "recognizable cashew processing sites" by scientists, where they pile heaps of stone tools after using them. These are the feet of cashew trees or tree branches. The Capuchins took from these piles their favorite implements, choosing the most suitable for the task. Anvils stones were four times heavier than hammer stones, and hammers were four times heavier than ordinary medium-sized stones. The Capuchins also preferred smooth hard quartzite stones for hammers and flat stones for anvils.
Then, with the help of archaeologists, scientists excavated the national park to see if this technology developed over time. They dug the ground to a depth of 0.7 meters close to the cashew trees, where today's Capuchins often used stone tools. Scientists have unearthed only 69 stones.
They analyzed their size, shape and characteristic damage to surfaces caused by impacts. Using mass spectrometry, the scientists were able to confirm that the dark-colored spots on the tools were from cashews. Using carbon dating for small pieces of coal found with stones, the oldest stones are estimated to be 600 or 700 years old. This is before the Europeans arrived in the New World.
Scientists have calculated that the tradition of using stone tools has existed for about a hundred generations of Capuchins. Comparison of what stones are used by modern Capuchins with archaeological data showed that the weight and material of the tools have not changed over hundreds of years. That is, monkeys are conservative and prefer not to change the technology of using stone tools - unlike people living in the same region.
Promotional video:
Previously, the only archaeological evidence of the use of tools by animals in the prehistoric period came from the study of three chimpanzee sites in the Côte d'Voire in Africa between 4300 and 1300 years old. Now, new research provides evidence that monkeys outside Africa have also used tools for hundreds, and possibly many thousands of years.
Earlier, scientists from Cambridge, studying primates, including the Capuchins, came to the conclusion that it is not hunger that prompts the monkeys to take up the tools, but the opportunities that have turned up.
Let's watch an interesting video about the ability of monkeys to use their tools - as it turned out, very ancient: