The new section concerning the human skeleton is now up and I know I said last week there will be no new blog, but I just learned exciting news; the news that chimpanzee have entered their own Stone Age. This is not only exciting news, but huge news! Years ago, “it wasn’t believed that even primates or apes had the capacity for stone tool usage” only humans. With this new information coming out, it so happens that a variety of primates, chimpanzees, capuchins and macaques, have been not only using stone tools but fashioning them to suit their needs. Some have been dated back to about the time when the pyramids were being built.
But how can we be certain they were used by primates and not by humans; we look at the evidence. When we were using stone hammers they did not exceed the weight of 1 kg, or 2 lb. The stone hammers that were found weighed between 1 kg and 9 kg or 19 lb. What is more, some of the hammers were “coated with the starchy reside of nuts that are eaten by chimps, but not humans. These findings suggest that for the last 4,300 years, chimpanzees have been making use of stone tools in the region.”
Now, just because we are now realizing this, does not mean that the way chimpanzee's use stones is a relatively new method. A few scientists see this using stone tools as a tradition. Reason being is only a few small communities in West Africa use them. Because of this discovery there is now a new branch of science: primate archaeology, So it may be another million years or so til they create advanced stone tools. For us humans, the stone tool was the first, followed by fire, in many achievements. And we have experimented to see how chimpanzee's deal with new technology, we know they have the capacity and the means to create advanced stone tools.
Main reason lies in their brain. As I stated before, for us humans the stone tools was the start of many achievements, which required our brains to expland. The brain pathways that allowed us to do that exists in chimpanzee's as well. But, sadly, because of the fact that we are human and are not only hunting chimpanzee's but also destroying their habitat, they may never reach the height of their potential.
Once again, the new section with the labeled human skeleton is up. Please feel free to comment on what you thought of the blog, or other physical anthropological subjects you would like me to cover.
But how can we be certain they were used by primates and not by humans; we look at the evidence. When we were using stone hammers they did not exceed the weight of 1 kg, or 2 lb. The stone hammers that were found weighed between 1 kg and 9 kg or 19 lb. What is more, some of the hammers were “coated with the starchy reside of nuts that are eaten by chimps, but not humans. These findings suggest that for the last 4,300 years, chimpanzees have been making use of stone tools in the region.”
Now, just because we are now realizing this, does not mean that the way chimpanzee's use stones is a relatively new method. A few scientists see this using stone tools as a tradition. Reason being is only a few small communities in West Africa use them. Because of this discovery there is now a new branch of science: primate archaeology, So it may be another million years or so til they create advanced stone tools. For us humans, the stone tool was the first, followed by fire, in many achievements. And we have experimented to see how chimpanzee's deal with new technology, we know they have the capacity and the means to create advanced stone tools.
Main reason lies in their brain. As I stated before, for us humans the stone tools was the start of many achievements, which required our brains to expland. The brain pathways that allowed us to do that exists in chimpanzee's as well. But, sadly, because of the fact that we are human and are not only hunting chimpanzee's but also destroying their habitat, they may never reach the height of their potential.
Once again, the new section with the labeled human skeleton is up. Please feel free to comment on what you thought of the blog, or other physical anthropological subjects you would like me to cover.
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