- Archaeology, Culture, Science Education, Material Culture Studies, Biological Anthropology, Human Evolution, and 22 moreExperimental Archaeology, Environmental Education, Paleoanthropology, Primatology, Evolutionary Archaeology, Africa (Archaeology), Stone Age (Archaeology), Earlier Stone Age (Archaeology), Science education through experiments, Oldowan, Primate Archaeology, Cultural Selection (Archaeology), Anthropology, Technology, Geomorphology, Lithic Technology, Evolution and Human Behavior, Lower Paleolithic, Chimpanzees, Primates, Palaeoanthropology, and Prehistoric Archaeologyedit
- I am a Primatologist and Paleoanthropologist interested in the evolution of behaviour and in using extant primates as... moreI am a Primatologist and Paleoanthropologist interested in the evolution of behaviour and in using extant primates as models for our early hominin records. I have carried long term work with wild chimpanzees and baboons in Africa, and i have been pivotal in the broadening of archaeology to include non-human records AND earlier Pliocene records. I am one of the founders of the field of primate archaeology. I have projects in East Africa (Kenya) and West Africa (Guinea). In 2015 I started a fantastic endeavour as Director of Paleontology and Primatology in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, leading the Paleo-Primate Project. In 2016 I founded the Primate Models for Behavioural Evolution Lab, at the Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology, where we now host ca.15 researchers!edit
Background Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique hosts a large population of baboons, numbering over 200 troops. Gorongosa baboons have been tentatively identified as part of Papio ursinus on the basis of previous limited morphological... more
Background Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique hosts a large population of baboons, numbering over 200 troops. Gorongosa baboons have been tentatively identified as part of Papio ursinus on the basis of previous limited morphological analysis and a handful of mitochondrial DNA sequences. However, a recent morphological and morphometric analysis of Gorongosa baboons pinpointed the occurrence of several traits intermediate between P. ursinus and P. cynocephalus, leaving open the possibility of past and/or ongoing gene flow in the baboon population of Gorongosa National Park. In order to investigate the evolutionary history of baboons in Gorongosa, we generated high and low coverage whole genome sequence data of Gorongosa baboons and compared it to available Papio genomes. Results We confirmed that P. ursinus is the species closest to Gorongosa baboons. However, the Gorongosa baboon genomes share more derived alleles with P. cynocephalus than P. ursinus does, but no recent gene flow ...
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In the year of 2015, the Group of Studies in Human evolution (GEEvH) completed ten years of existence. Since its foundation, GEEvH’s has played an important role in the difficult task of communicating science in Portugal in the field of... more
In the year of 2015, the Group of Studies in Human evolution (GEEvH) completed ten years of existence. Since its foundation, GEEvH’s has played an important role in the difficult task of communicating science in Portugal in the field of human evolution. In this paper, an overview of the main activities developed by GEEvH in the last decade as well as upcoming goals, will be provided. This approach will be framed by a short theoretical introduction to Charles Darwin’s Assis et al. /Cadernos do GEEvH 4 (1) 2015: 8-24 9 theories, highlighting the impact of evolutionary biology views in the Portuguese academic and schools settings. The current situation with regard to the teaching of human evolution in Portuguese schools will also be presented.
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Discussions of how animal culture can aid the conservation crisis are burgeoning. As scientists and conservationists working to protect endangered species, we call for reflection on how the culture concept may be applied in practice.... more
Discussions of how animal culture can aid the conservation crisis are burgeoning. As scientists and conservationists working to protect endangered species, we call for reflection on how the culture concept may be applied in practice. Here, we discuss both the potential benefits and potential shortcomings of applying the animal culture concept and propose a set of achievable milestones that will help guide and ensure effective integration of this concept into existing conservation frameworks, such as Adaptive Management cycles or Open Standards.
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Research Interests: Evolutionary Biology, Geography, Archaeology, Anthropology, Evolutionary Anthropology, and 14 moreMozambique, Primate Ecology, Medicine, Primates, Papio, Baboons, Primate Evolution, Behavioural Ecology of Primates, Primate Behavior, African Rift Valley, Primate Studies, Hibridization, Gorongosa National Park, and Hominin paleoenvironments
Wild ape face recognition using artificial intelligence opens the way for fully automated analysis of large-scale video datasets.
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Research Interests: Geography, Human Evolution, Africa, Science, Paleoecology, and 5 moreMedicine, Multidisciplinary, Mammals, Animals, and Hominidae
Humans help others even without direct benefit for themselves. However, the nature of altruistic (i.e., only the other benefits) and prosocial (i.e., self and other both benefit) behaviors in our closest living relative, the chimpanzee,... more
Humans help others even without direct benefit for themselves. However, the nature of altruistic (i.e., only the other benefits) and prosocial (i.e., self and other both benefit) behaviors in our closest living relative, the chimpanzee, remains controversial. To address this further, we developed a touch-screen-guided task that allowed us to increase the number of trials for a thorough test of chimpanzees' prosocial and altruistic tendencies. Mother-offspring dyads were tested in the same compartment; one was the actor while the other was the recipient. In Experiment 1, the actor chose among three options: prosocial, selfish (only the actor benefited) and altruistic. To better understand the nature of the chimpanzees' choices and to improve experimental control, we conducted two additional experiments. Experiment 2 consisted of two-option choices interspersed with three-option choices, and in Experiment 3 the two-option choice were blocked across all trials. The results of E...
Research Interests: Psychology and Medicine
Most developmental processes, from the molecular to the cognitive level, have many similarities throughout the animal kingdom. The aim of the present study was to examine the evolution of human spatial cognition by contextualizing it in a... more
Most developmental processes, from the molecular to the cognitive level, have many similarities throughout the animal kingdom. The aim of the present study was to examine the evolution of human spatial cognition by contextualizing it in a developmental cognition framework. In order to achieve this, a thorough literature review on significant research was conducted, including data from primatology, cognitive science, archaeology and human evolution. The fascinating result of this literature review consists in the novel suggestion that ontogenic data can be useful for understanding human cognitive evolution. Further investigation in this field is required to achieve more conclusive results.
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African apes and humans share a genetic mutation that enables them to effectively metabolize ethanol. However, voluntary ethanol consumption in this evolutionary radiation is documented only in modern humans. Here, we report evidence of... more
African apes and humans share a genetic mutation that enables them to effectively metabolize ethanol. However, voluntary ethanol consumption in this evolutionary radiation is documented only in modern humans. Here, we report evidence of the long-term and recurrent ingestion of ethanol from the raffia palm ( Raphia hookeri, Arecaceae) by wild chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes verus ) at Bossou in Guinea, West Africa, from 1995 to 2012. Chimpanzees at Bossou ingest this alcoholic beverage, often in large quantities, despite an average presence of ethanol of 3.1% alcohol by volume (ABV) and up to 6.9% ABV. Local people tap raffia palms and the sap collects in plastic containers, and chimpanzees use elementary technology—a leafy tool—to obtain this fermenting sap. These data show that ethanol does not act as a deterrent to feeding in this community of wild apes, supporting the idea that the last common ancestor of living African apes and modern humans was not averse to ingesting foods conta...
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Stone tool use by wild chimpanzees of West Africa offers a unique opportunity to explore the evolutionary roots of technology during human evolution. However, detailed analyses of chimpanzee stone artifacts are still lacking, thus... more
Stone tool use by wild chimpanzees of West Africa offers a unique opportunity to explore the evolutionary roots of technology during human evolution. However, detailed analyses of chimpanzee stone artifacts are still lacking, thus precluding a comparison with the earliest archaeological record. This paper presents the first systematic study of stone tools used by wild chimpanzees to crack open nuts in Bossou (Guinea-Conakry), and applies pioneering analytical techniques to such artifacts. Automatic morphometric GIS classification enabled to create maps of use wear over the stone tools (anvils, hammers, and hammers/ anvils), which were blind tested with GIS spatial analysis of damage patterns identified visually. Our analysis shows that chimpanzee stone tool use wear can be systematized and specific damage patterns discerned, allowing to discriminate between active and passive pounders in lithic assemblages. In summary, our results demonstrate the heuristic potential of combined suit...
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We are in a new epoch, the Anthropocene, and research into our closest living relatives, the great apes, must keep pace with the rate that our species is driving change. While a goal of many studies is to understand how great apes behave... more
We are in a new epoch, the Anthropocene, and research into our closest living relatives, the great apes, must keep pace with the rate that our species is driving change. While a goal of many studies is to understand how great apes behave in natural contexts, the impact of human activities must increasingly be taken into account. This is both a challenge and an opportunity, which can importantly inform research in three diverse fields: cognition, human evolution, and conservation. No long-term great ape research site is wholly unaffected by human influence, but research at those that are especially affected by human activity is particularly important for ensuring that our great ape kin survive the Anthropocene.
Research Interests: Human Evolution, Conservation Biology, Animal Behavior, Cognition, Biology, and 15 moreBiological Sciences, Behavioural Flexibility, Environmental Sciences, Chimpanzees, Humans, Ape cognition, Animals, Anthropogenic Disturbance, Human Activities, Anthropocene, Biological evolution, Great Apes, Hominidae, Conservation of Natural Resources, and Effects of Climate Change to Wildlife Habitats
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Research Interests: Engineering, Geography, Physics, Chemistry, Animal Behavior, and 7 moreBiology, Medicine, Multidisciplinary, Macaca, Humans, Animals, and PLoS one
Research Interests: Archaeology, Experimental Archaeology, Paleoanthropology, Human Evolution, Technology, and 14 morePrimatology, Animal Behavior, Archaeological Method & Theory, Medicine, Multidisciplinary, Primate Archaeology, Nature, Prehistory, Primates, Humans, Animals, Hominidae, Captive Wild Animals, and human characteristics
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12 Tools, Traditions, and Technologies: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Chimpanzee Nut Cracking Dora Biro, Susana Carvalho, and Tetsuro Matsuzawa Traveling east and then southeast from Conakry, Guinea, to a destination close to the... more
12 Tools, Traditions, and Technologies: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Chimpanzee Nut Cracking Dora Biro, Susana Carvalho, and Tetsuro Matsuzawa Traveling east and then southeast from Conakry, Guinea, to a destination close to the Liberian border takes you on an 18-hour ...
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Percussive technology continues to play an increasingly important role in understanding the evolution of tool use. Comparing the archaeological record with extractive foraging behaviors in nonhuman primates has focused on percussive... more
Percussive technology continues to play an increasingly important role in understanding the evolution of tool use. Comparing the archaeological record with extractive foraging behaviors in nonhuman primates has focused on percussive implements as a key to investigating the origins of lithic technology. Despite this, archaeological approaches towards percussive tools have been obscured by a lack of standardized methodologies. Central to this issue have been the use of qualitative, non-diagnostic techniques to identify percussive tools from archaeological contexts. Here we describe a new morphometric method for distinguishing anthropogenically-generated damage patterns on percussive tools from naturally damaged river cobbles. We employ a geomatic approach through the use of three-dimensional scanning and geographical information systems software to statistically quantify the identification process in percussive technology research. This will strengthen current technological analyses o...
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Encyclopaedic entry (2nd edition, Animal Behaviour)
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and Keywords The origin of technology is believed to have marked a major adaptive shift in human evolution. Understanding the evolutionary process(es) underlying the first human adaptation to tool use, and the subsequent process(es) that... more
and Keywords The origin of technology is believed to have marked a major adaptive shift in human evolution. Understanding the evolutionary process(es) underlying the first human adaptation to tool use, and the subsequent process(es) that led Homo sapiens to become the only extant primate fully dependent on technology, is one of the most stimulating topics of research of present-day archaeology. New fields of research have been founded (e.g. primate archaeology, Pliocene archaeology) during the quest to find out how old technology is, where it originated, and who were the first tool users. Historically, the vast majority of the information on this topic comes from the study of lithic (stone) tools, tools whose manufacture was generally believed to be a uniquely human characteristic until well into the 1960s. The production of lithic technology was linked first to the origin of the earliest hominins (the taxonomic group comprising modern humans, extinct human species, and all immediate human ancestors), being thought to have co-evolved with traits such as bipedalism or hunting/scavenging, and later to the evolution of the genus Homo and accompanying increases in brain size. As a result of breakthroughs in the field of primatology, and greater interdisciplinary work between archaeologists and primatologists, a paradigm shift in beliefs surrounding the uniqueness of human technology is underway. Following discoveries from the second half of the 20th century and the early 21st century, habitual tool use, tool manufacture, and the production of flakes are now known to occur in extant non-human species, firmly decoupling brain size expansion, bipedalism, and the origins of technology. Knapped stone tools and cut-marked bones have been discovered dating to ca. half a million years before the earliest evidence of Homo, giving rise to the possibility that earlier, previously unconsidered hominins, or even other extinct non-human primates, could have been responsible for the inception of tool use and manufacture. Following these advances, it is reasonable to hypothesize that the origins of technology may lie much further back in time than the earliest discovered modified stone tools-perhaps as far back as the late Miocene with the last common ancestor of Homo and Pan. Moreover, discoveries of lithic technology in more distantly related species, where convergent evolution is the most parsimonious explanation, strongly suggest the existence of multiple evolutionary pathways for technological
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For the past two centuries, non-human primates have been reported to inspect, protect, retrieve, carry or drag the dead bodies of their conspecifics and, for nearly the same amount of time, sparse scientific attention has been paid to... more
For the past two centuries, non-human primates have been reported to inspect, protect, retrieve, carry or drag the dead bodies of their conspecifics and, for nearly the same amount of time, sparse scientific attention has been paid to such behaviours. Given that there exists a considerable gap in the fossil and archaeological record concerning how early hominins might have interacted with their dead, extant primates may provide valuable insight into how and in which contexts thanatological behaviours would have occurred. First, we outline a comprehensive history of comparative thanatology in non-human primates, from the earliest accounts to the present, uncovering the interpretations of previous researchers and their contributions to the field of primate thanatology. Many of the typical behavioural patterns towards the dead seen in the past are consistent with those observed today. Second, we review recent evidence of thanatological responses and organise it into distinct terminologies: direct interactions (physical contact with the corpse) and secondary interactions (guarding the corpse, vigils and visitations). Third, we provide a critical evaluation regarding the form and function of the behavioural and emotional aspects of these responses towards infants and adults, also comparing them with non-conspecifics. We suggest that thanatological interactions: promote a faster re-categorisation from living to dead, decrease costly vigilant/caregiving behaviours, are crucial to the management of grieving responses, update position in the group's hierarchy, and accelerate the formation of new social bonds. Fourth, we propose an integrated model of Life-Death Awareness, whereupon neural circuitry dedicated towards detecting life, i.e. the agency system (animate agency, intentional agency, mentalistic agency) works with a corresponding system that interacts with it on a decision-making level (animate/inanimate distinction, living/dead discrimination, death awareness). Theoretically, both systems are governed by specific cognitive mechanisms (perceptual categories, associative concepts and high-order reasoning, respectively). Fifth, we present an evolutionary timeline from rudimentary thanatological responses likely occurring in earlier non-human primates during the Eocene to the more elaborate mortuary practices attributed to genus Homo throughout the Pleistocene. Finally, we discuss the importance of detailed reports on primate thanatology and propose several empirical avenues to shed further light on this topic. This review expands and builds upon previous attempts to evaluate the body of knowledge on this subject, providing an integrative perspective and bringing together different fields of research to detail the evolutionary, sensory/cognitive, developmental and historical/archaeological aspects of primate thanatology. Considering all these findings and given their cognitive abilities, we argue that non-human primates are capable of an implicit awareness of death.
The East African Rift System (EARS) has played a central role in our understanding of human origins andvertebrateevolutioninthelateCenozoicofAfrica.However,thedistributionoffossilsitesalongtheriftishighlybiased towards its northern... more
The East African Rift System (EARS) has played a central role in our understanding of human origins andvertebrateevolutioninthelateCenozoicofAfrica.However,thedistributionoffossilsitesalongtheriftishighlybiased towards its northern extent, and the types of paleoenvironments are primarily restricted to fluvial andlacustrine settings. Here we report the discovery of the first fossil sites from the Urema Rift at GorongosaNationalPark(centralMozambique)atthesouthernendoftheEARS,andreconstructenvironmentalcontextsofthe fossils.In situand surface fossils from the lower member of the Mazamba Formation, estimated to be ofMiocene age, comprise mammals, reptiles, fishes, invertebrates, palms, and dicot trees. Fossil and geologicalevidenceindicatesacoastal-plainpaleoenvironmentalmosaicofriverineforest/woodlandandestuarinehabitatsthatrepresentthefirstcoastalbiomesidentifiedintheNeogeneEARScontext.Receivingcontinentalsedimentfrom source terranes west of today's Urema Graben, estuarine sequences accumulated prior to rifting as com-pound incised-valley fills on a low-gradient coastal plain following transgression. Modern environmental ana-logues are extremely productive habitats for marine and terrestrial fauna, including primates. Thus, our dis-coveries raise the possibility that the Miocene coastal landscapes of Gorongosa were ecologically-favorable habitats for primates, providing relatively stable maritime climate and ecosystem conditions, year-round freshwater availability, and food both from terrestrial and marine sources. The emerging fossil record from Gorongosa is beginning to fill an important gap in the paleobiogeography of Africa as no fossil sites of Neogene age have previously been reported from the southern most part of the EARS. Furthermore, this unique window into past continental-margin ecosystems of central Mozambique may allow us to test key paleobiogeographic hypotheses during critical periods of primate evolution.
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The newly described partial skeleton of Paranthropus boisei KNM-ER 47000 as well as the FwJj14E Ileret footprints provide new evidence on the paleobiology and diversity of hominins from the Okote Member of the Koobi Fora Formation at East... more
The newly described partial skeleton of Paranthropus boisei KNM-ER 47000 as well as the FwJj14E Ileret footprints provide new evidence on the paleobiology and diversity of hominins from the Okote Member of the Koobi Fora Formation at East Turkana about 1.5 Ma. To better understand the ecological context of the Okote hominins, it is necessary to broaden the geographical focus of the analysis to include the entire Omo-Turkana ecosystem, and the temporal focus to encompass the early Pleistocene. Previous work has shown that important changes in the regional vegetation occurred after 2 Ma, and that there was a peak in mammalian turnover and diversity close to 1.8 Ma. This peak in diversity included the Hominini, with the species P. boisei, Homo habilis, Homo rudolfensis, and Homo erectus co-occurring at around 1.8 Ma. There is considerable debate about whether H. habilis and H. rudolfensis indeed constitute separate species, but even if we consider them both as H. habilis sensu lato, the co-occurrence of three hominin species at any one time and place is rather unusually high diversity for hominin standards (even if not so for other mammalian groups such as suids, bovids, or cercopithecids). Here we use mammalian faunal abundance data to place confidence intervals on first and last appearances of hominin species in the early Pleistocene of the Omo-Turkana Basin, and use these estimates to discuss hominin diversity in the Okote Member. We suggest that in the early Pleistocene a wide range of depositional environments and vegetation types, along with a high frequency of volcanism, likely maintained high levels of environmental variability both in time and space across the Omo-Turkana region, and provided ecological opportunities for the coexistence of at least three hominin species alongside a diverse mammalian fauna.
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Property is a key feature of modern human society; however, identifying the origin of this multi-faceted behavior poses a formidable challenge. Here, we explore the methodologies for researching the origin of property. We discuss how an... more
Property is a key feature of modern human society; however, identifying the origin of this multi-faceted behavior poses a formidable challenge. Here, we explore the methodologies for researching the origin of property. We discuss how an interdisciplinary approach can shed light on how our human ancestors shifted behaviorally from possessing an object to having exclusive property control over it. Possession occurs when social group members only respect an individ-ual's claim to have exclusive access to an object when the individual has physical control over the object. Property occurs when an individual can claim exclusive access to an object, without challenge, regardless of whether the object is in their physical control or not. Researchers across different disciplines have asked what, if anything, distinguishes human property behavior from the behavior of other animals? Further, when and how did this behavior evolve in our lineage? Due to the considerable methodological challenges posed by researching this topic, few studies have been able to directly address these questions. In this review, we explore the challenges involved in defining property and possession and suggest a two-step approach to interdisciplin-ary definitions. Next, we evaluate four core approaches to the study of property behavior: evolutionary game theory, ethology, comparative cognition, and developmental psychology. Finally, we propose an empirical study, using an ethological approach to test the presence of property and possessive behavior in a natural setting, using our closest living relative, the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). Overall, we argue that this field of research is at a turning point, where the novel integration of various methods may provide an explanation to the origin of property.
Humans help others even without direct benefit for themselves. However, the nature of altruistic (i.e., only the other benefits) and prosocial (i.e., self and other both benefit) behaviors in our closest living relative, the chimpanzee,... more
Humans help others even without direct benefit for themselves. However, the nature of altruistic (i.e., only the other benefits) and prosocial (i.e., self and other both benefit) behaviors in our closest living relative, the chimpanzee, remains controversial. To address this further, we developed a touch-screen-guided task that allowed us to increase the number of trials for a thorough test of chimpanzees' prosocial and altruistic tendencies. Mother-offspring dyads were tested in the same compartment; one was the actor while the other was the recipient. In Experiment 1, the actor chose among three options: prosocial, selfish (only the actor benefited) and altruistic. To better understand the nature of the chimpanzees' choices and to improve experimental control, we conducted two additional experiments. Experiment 2 consisted of two-option choices interspersed with three-option choices, and in Experiment 3 the two-option choice were blocked across all trials. The results of Experiment 1 clearly showed that chimpanzees acted prosocially in the touch-screen-guided task, choosing the prosocial option on an average of 79% of choices. Five out of the six chimpanzees showed the preference to act prosocially against chance level. The preference for the prosocial option persisted when conditions were changed in Experiments 2 and 3. When only selfish and altruistic options were available in Experiments 2 and 3, chimpanzees preferred the selfish option. These results suggest that (1) most individuals understood the nature of the task and modified their behavior according to the available options, (2) five out of the six chimpanzees chose to act prosocially when they had the option to, and (3) offspring counterbalanced between altruistic and selfish, when given those two options perhaps to avoid suffering repercussions from the mother.
Editorial Vou tirar já isto do caminho: sou antropólogo. Apesar do meu trabalho actual se focar exclusivamente em antropologia biológica, a minha formação de raíz é mais abrangente. Tirei a licenciatura na Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e... more
Editorial Vou tirar já isto do caminho: sou antropólogo. Apesar do meu trabalho actual se focar exclusivamente em antropologia biológica, a minha formação de raíz é mais abrangente. Tirei a licenciatura na Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas da Universidade Nova de Lisboa, cujo currículo, apesar de incluir algumas (poucas) cadeiras ligadas à antropologia biológica, está essencialmente vocacionado para a antropologia social e cultural. Obviamente, poderei ser acusado de indiscreta parcialidade, porém não hesito em afirmar que toda e qualquer comunidade, beneficiaria do ensino universal da antropologia, tornando-a mais tolerante e auto-crítica. Conhecer " o outro " de forma aprofundada, e não apenas através dos noticiários, confere-nos uma capacidade inigualável de aceitar a diferença como elemento básico e inescapável da condição humana. A variabilidade e flexibilidade culturais que nos caracterizam estão estreitamente ligadas ao nosso sucesso enquanto espécie, uma das mais bem-sucedidas do planeta. Se assim não fosse, o Homo sapiens nunca teria saído de África, espalhando-se pelos quatro cantos do mundo, pois o seu kit cultural pouco sentido faria em outras paragens tão distintas como a selva amazónica ou o ártico. Podemos criticar, discordar, repudiar e mesmo punir as manifestações culturais do " outro " mas, e agora num sentido intencionalmente biológico, não há dúvida que a diversidade cultural nos trouxe mais benefícios do que desvantagens e isso é demonstrável de forma muito simples: a nossa espécie ainda não se extinguiu. Creio ser seguro afirmar que ninguém mais que o/a antropólogo/a social e cultural, criticamente ciente dos seus próprios preconceitos, mas alegadamente capaz de se abstrair deles, está equipado para resgatar e trazer à luz as motivações profundas que estão subjacentes ao quadro sócio-cultural de determinada comunidade. Ninguém como ele/ela domina melhor os conceitos de " relativismo cultural " , " diferença " e o " outro ". Esses ensinamentos acompanham-me até hoje e fá-lo-ão previsivelmente sempre, independentemente de qual venha a ser a minha ocupação no futuro. Aliás, a antropologia biológica utiliza uma abordagem biocultural para a qual, no meu caso pessoal, muito contribui a minha formação de base. Esclarecido este ponto, foco-me então no verdadeiro motivo deste editorial, que pretende ser um ponto de situação após o último concurso de bolsas de doutoramento da Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT). Eu sei, é um grande salto, mas peço-vos alguma paciência, há-de fazer sentido. Uma vez mais, foi geral o desapontamento entre a comunidade de antropólogos biológicos ao depararem-se com a razia que o painel de avaliação fez aos candidatos provenientes desta área científica. Todos sabemos que a actividade científica não vive os seus melhores dias em Portugal, e que insuficiências ao nível do financiamento público têm afectado de forma transversal todas as áreas do saber. Porém, não posso deixar de estranhar que, no mesmo painel de avaliação, as taxas de sucesso de atribuição de bolsa aos candidatos tenham sido tão díspares. Houve 31 candidatos, 23 deles da área da antropologia social e cultural e oito da área da antropologia biológica. Cerca de 43,5% dos alunos provenientes da antropologia social e cultural (10 em 23) obtiveram bolsa enquanto isso
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Chimpanzees rarely capture an animal without eating it, but this puzzling pattern occurs in both nature and captivity, mostly by youngsters 1-6 . At Bossou in Guinea, chimpanzees rarely hunt for meat; their home range presents few... more
Chimpanzees rarely capture an animal without eating it, but this puzzling pattern occurs in both nature and captivity, mostly by youngsters 1-6 . At Bossou in Guinea, chimpanzees rarely hunt for meat; their home range presents few suitable prey 7 . From 1976 to 2008, only one ...
In the year of 2015, the Group of Studies in Human evolution (GEEvH) completed ten years of existence. Since its foundation, GEEvH's has played an important role in the difficult task of communicating science in Portugal in the field of... more
In the year of 2015, the Group of Studies in Human evolution (GEEvH) completed ten years of existence. Since its foundation, GEEvH's has played an important role in the difficult task of communicating science in Portugal in the field of human evolution. In this paper, an overview of the main activities developed by GEEvH in the last decade as well as upcoming goals, will be provided. This approach will be framed by a short theoretical introduction to Charles Darwin's
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Stone tool use by wild chimpanzees of West Africa offers a unique opportunity to explore the evolutionary roots of technology during human evolution. However, detailed analyses of chimpanzee stone artifacts are still lacking, thus... more
Stone tool use by wild chimpanzees of West Africa offers a unique opportunity to explore
the evolutionary roots of technology during human evolution. However, detailed analyses of
chimpanzee stone artifacts are still lacking, thus precluding a comparison with the earliest
archaeological record. This paper presents the first systematic study of stone tools used by
wild chimpanzees to crack open nuts in Bossou (Guinea-Conakry), and applies pioneering
analytical techniques to such artifacts. Automatic morphometric GIS classification enabled
to create maps of use wear over the stone tools (anvils, hammers, and hammers/ anvils),
which were blind tested with GIS spatial analysis of damage patterns identified visually. Our
analysis shows that chimpanzee stone tool use wear can be systematized and specific
damage patterns discerned, allowing to discriminate between active and passive pounders
in lithic assemblages. In summary, our results demonstrate the heuristic potential of combined
suites of GIS techniques for the analysis of battered artifacts, and have enabled creating
a referential framework of analysis in which wild chimpanzee battered tools can for the
first time be directly compared to the early archaeological record.
the evolutionary roots of technology during human evolution. However, detailed analyses of
chimpanzee stone artifacts are still lacking, thus precluding a comparison with the earliest
archaeological record. This paper presents the first systematic study of stone tools used by
wild chimpanzees to crack open nuts in Bossou (Guinea-Conakry), and applies pioneering
analytical techniques to such artifacts. Automatic morphometric GIS classification enabled
to create maps of use wear over the stone tools (anvils, hammers, and hammers/ anvils),
which were blind tested with GIS spatial analysis of damage patterns identified visually. Our
analysis shows that chimpanzee stone tool use wear can be systematized and specific
damage patterns discerned, allowing to discriminate between active and passive pounders
in lithic assemblages. In summary, our results demonstrate the heuristic potential of combined
suites of GIS techniques for the analysis of battered artifacts, and have enabled creating
a referential framework of analysis in which wild chimpanzee battered tools can for the
first time be directly compared to the early archaeological record.