Chimp tools give new insight into early man
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A study using archaeological methods to examine primitive tools used by chimpanzees could lead to a re-evaluation of similar items used millions of years ago by early humans.
A study using archaeological methods to examine primitive tools used by chimpanzees could lead to a re-evaluation of similar items used millions of years ago by early humans.
The first such analysis of stone hammers and tree-stump "anvils" used by chimpanzees in rainforests of West Africa suggestssome of the first tools invented by man might have been used for the same purpose – to crack open nuts.
A team of American and German scientists applied the techniques used in archaeological digs at a nut-cracking site used by several generations of chimpanzees to study the way that their tool-making had developed.
The scientists found that the stone flakes that had broken off when the chimpanzees banged them against tree stumps looked remarkably similar to flakes found in the Olduvai Gorge of East Africa, home to early humans more than two million years ago.
Julio Mercader and Melissa Panger of George Washington University in Washington DC, working with Christophe Boesch of the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig, Germany, say the study proves that archaeology can be used to study the development of chimpanzee "culture".
The scientists, whose study is published in the journal Science, suggest the first cutting tools, which were made by early humans deliberately striking off flakes of stone, might have evolved from similar nut-cracking behaviour.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments