Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id QAA00686 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Mon, 27 May 2002 16:19:11 +0100 X-Originating-IP: [209.240.222.132] From: "Scott Chase" <ecphoric@hotmail.com> To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Subject: RE: Report: chimps used simple tools 5 million years ago Date: Mon, 27 May 2002 11:12:57 -0400 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Message-ID: <F188PLJkigmxpCaK65V0000c6d7@hotmail.com> X-OriginalArrivalTime: 27 May 2002 15:12:58.0215 (UTC) FILETIME=[FC104770:01C20590] Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
>From: Vincent Campbell <v.p.campbell@stir.ac.uk>
>Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
>To: "'memetics@mmu.ac.uk'" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
>Subject: RE: Report: chimps used simple tools 5 million years ago
>Date: Mon, 27 May 2002 14:57:55 +0100
>
>Nice piece. Reminds me of something I heard an archaeologist once say
>about
>digging, which goes something like 'one stone's a stone, two stones are a
>wall, three stones are a building, and four stones are a palace'. Isn't
>there an inherent problem with this kind of 'discovery' though?
>
>Chimps don't do anything to the stones do they (e.g. the flint working of
>later hominids)? If that's the case, then how can they be sure they're
>looking at a collection of stones used as tools by chimps, and not just at
>a
>collection of stones? (i assume they say more in the Science article).
>
>Interesting though.
>
Did they have to actually modify the stones for these objects to qualify as
tools? Can't the chimps be given credit for at least using some sort of
implement/tool as a means to an end, not unlike we humans? If this find
stands up to scrutiny, I'm sure there will be those who will still struggle
to keep humans within the charmed circle. The thought of chimps from way
back when doing humanesque things might be unnerving to someone of the
special creation mindset, not to mention their phylogenetic proximity to us.
It's better to ignore such information, lest dissonance rear its ugly head
;-)
>
>Vincent
>
> > ----------
> > From: Ray Recchia
> > Reply To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
> > Sent: Monday, May 27, 2002 8:20 AM
> > To: Memetics@mmu.ac.uk
> > Subject: Fwd: Report: chimps used simple tools 5 million years ago
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > WASHINGTON (CNN) -- An archaeological dig in West Africa has revealed
> > evidence that chimpanzees used primitive tools as long as five million
> > years ago, according to an international team of scientists.
> >
> > The evidence is in the form of 479 fragments of rudimentary stone
>hammers
> > that the chimps used to crack open nuts at the close of what is known as
> > the Miocene era, when Ice Age conditions cooled the planet, according to
> > their report in this week's journal Science.
> >
> > The fragments -- found at a site in Tai National Park in the Ivory Coast
> > --
> > closely resemble similar tools used by hominid (pre-human) species about
> > the same time, offering opportunities to learn more about the history of
> > human tools as well as providing a rare look into how other primate
> > species
> > developed, the researchers said.
> > "This introduces the possibility of tracing the development of at least
> > one
> > aspect of ape culture through time," said Julio Mercader, an
>archaeologist
> >
> > at the George Washington University In Washington, D.C.
> >
> > Mercader and GWU colleagues conducted the investigation with researchers
> > from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig,
> > Germany.
> >
> > The ancient chimps, similar to their modern-day counterparts, used sharp
> > stone pieces to open nuts -- an important supplement to their diet of
> > fruit, leaves, and insects. The chimps apparently placed the nuts on a
> > tree
> > root, using it as an "anvil" for the stone hammers.
> > Concentrations of stone-tool fragments were found around ancient tree
> > roots.
> > The scientists said they will keep observating the habits of modern
>chimps
> >
> > in Tai National Park -- including their use of stone tools -- for
>evidence
> >
> > of change in chimp behavior since the five million-year-old stone tools
> > were used. The study represents a rare departure for archaeologists,
>whose
> >
> > work almost always focuses on humans and their immediate ancestors.
> >
> > An unfortunate footnote to the research is that the modern chimps in Tai
> > National Park are among the last in the nation of Ivory Coast.
>Victimized
> > by deforestation, hunting and a serious 1995 outbreak of the ebola
>virus,
> > only 750 chimps are thought to remain in the nation.
> >
> >
> >
> > ===============================================================
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> > see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit
> >
> >
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