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Chaînes opératoires and resource-exploitation strategies in chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) nut cracking
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Orientador(es)
Resumo(s)
We apply archaeological methods to extend our knowledge of chimpanzee material culture. The chaıne operatoire conceptual framework, as
introduced by ethnography, established technology as a phased process. Prehistoric archaeology adopted this concept to elucidate technological
variability in tool-making procedures, based on knowledge of tool functions or subsistence patterns. We focused on the detection of operational
sequences by wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) when nut cracking with lithic implements at the sites of Bossou and Diecke´, Guinea,
West Africa. Thus, while it has recently been claimed that chimpanzees leave behind recognizable assemblages of stone hammers that can be
morphologically distinguished from Oldowan hammers, this is the first study to focus specifically on the existence of operational sequences
during the utilization of stone tools by wild chimpanzees. By combining primatological and archaeological methods and examining ecological
areas inhabited by different chimpanzee groups, we sought technological variability and identified variables influencing regional diversity in tool
typology and technology. We compared three case studies: (1) Bossouddirect recording of experimental nut-cracking sessions; (2) Bossoud
direct and indirect monitoring of nut-cracking sites in the wild; (3) Diecke´dindirect monitoring of nut-cracking sites in the wild. Results suggest
that chimpanzees perform sequences of repeated tool transport and nut cracking. Data show discrimination of tool functions based on tool
features. We identified the most technologically complex tool for nut cracking, which was composed of four stones. We found regional diversity
in chimpanzee stone assemblages. Raw-material type and tool mobility constrain technological development in human and nonhuman primates.
Spatial analysis of tool distribution indicates a pattern of resource-exploitation strategy, revealing affinities with Oldowan.
Descrição
Journal of Human Evolution, V. 55, pp. 148-163
Palavras-chave
Tool making Tool use Technology Chimpanzee archaeology
Contexto Educativo
Citação
Editora
Academic Press; Elsiver