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Chimp tech?

by Stephen Withers

Wednesday, 14 February 2007

Canadian archaeologists working in Ivory Coast have found what they believe to be 4300 year old stone hammers and anvils used by chimpanzees to crush and crack food.

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The area had a sparse human population at the time, and the artefacts have traces of starches from nuts that are eaten by chimps but not by humans.

This is the earliest evidence of tool-using chimps so far uncovered, but there is no evidence that the tools were deliberately crafted by the them. They could have been formed naturally or made by humans, but the tools are said to be too large for human hands.

Whether the chips developed tool use independently, imitated humans, or inherited the skill from a common ancestor remains open.

The team was led by Julio Mercader of the University of Calgary.{moscomment}

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