Monkeys have entered the Stone Age Facts

Archaeologists have found monkey-made stone tools in west Africa, Brazil and Thailand about the same age as the Egyptian pyramids (2589 to 2504 BC).

Primate archaeology is the new field of science that focuses on monkey stone tools.

Chimpanzees, capuchins and macaques were identified as using stone tools.

The fact the monkeys routinely use stone tools means that they have entered the Stone Age.

Christophe Boesch, a primate archaeologist from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, led the research. (See Do Cats Really Have Nine Lives?)

Research showed that chimpanzees have a structural way of choosing and using stone tools. They deliberately opt for large and heavy stone hammers, between 1 kg and 9 kg.

Researchers conclude that monkeys of Ivory Coast have been using stone tools for at least 4,300 years. (See What is the Difference between Apes and Monkeys?)

Another study from 2004 confirmed capuchin monkeys in Brazil use anvils and stone pounding tools.

So far, monkeys have been using stone tools for cracking open nuts, shellfish and digging ground for tubers.

Michael Haslam at the University of Oxford in the UK, and leader of the Primate Archaeology Project said ‘We are shrinking their populations dramatically through habitat destruction and hunting. Smaller populations cannot spread and sustain complex technologies as well as larger groups.’

Researchers believe the next big step for monkeys would be their mastering of fire. Experiments already showed that monkeys understand the concept of cooked food being better and have used ovens in controlled studies.

If the monkeys master cooking food one day, it might help them develop larger brains since cooked food has more calories.

Researchers note that relevant brain pathways, which allowed humans to develop bigger brains and advanced stone tools, are present in chimpanzees too.