BBC EARTH CHIMPANZEES MONKEYS THE STONE AGE LINKS HELP NAVIGATION NEWS SPORT WEATHER SHOP TRAVEL CAPITAL IPLAYER CULTURE AUTOS FUTURE TV RADIO CBBC CBEEBIES FOOD BITESIZE MUSIC ARTS MAKE IT DIGITAL TASTER NATURE LOCAL SEARCH THE BBC STORY OF BIG QUESTIONS DISCOVERIES VIDEO EMAIL ABOUT US ORIGINS PRIMATE WE THINK SOMETHING EARLY HUMANS LIVED WE ARE THE ONLY SPECIES INVENTED SHARE FACEBOOK TWITTER REDDIT WHATSAPP STUMBLEUPON COLIN BARRAS 18 AUGUST RAINFORESTS WEST THE WOODLANDS BRAZIL THE BEACHES ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNEARTHED TRULY REMARKABLE STONE TOOLS WORKMANSHIP CASUAL OBSERVER MIGHT ANCIENT ANTIQUITY THE EGYPTIAN TOOLS NOTEWORTHY THE HANDS MACAQUES BASIS BRAND NEW FIELD OF SCIENCE CHIMPANZEE MONKEY STONE HAMMER WORK OF ART RIVAL BEAUTY ANCIENT HUMAN HAND AXE PRIMATES DEVELOPED ROUTINE MEANS VIEW IMAGE OF NEW CALEDONIAN CROW USES TOOL FORAGE ROLAND DECADES BIOLOGISTS THOUGHT HUMANS BONOBOS GORILLAS SEEN PLANT NEVER KNOW THAT FISH INSECTS ENVIRONMENT THEIR LIVES EASIER REPORTS WILD GORILLA TWIG ANTS TURN STONES SAYS THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD LEADER ARCHAEOLOGY JUSTINE GREAT APES ENOUGH ROCKS TRADITION THE GROUP HAVE TO FACT AVAILABLE SPEND UBIQUITOUS HABITATS PARTICULARLY CLEVER GREAT APE BEGIN DOWN WEST AFRICA SEEM PASS TECHNOLOGY CRACK OPEN NUTS LANDMARK STUDY PUBLISHED DENSE FORESTS THE IVORY COAST ANDRE HUMAN THE IDEA WE CAN HUMAN BEHAVIOURS LEAVE BEHIND TINY MARKS MIGHT BE THE CASUAL CARRY WEALTH INFORMATION TRAINED POUNDING CRACKING TOUGH CHRISTOPHE BOESCH AT THE MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR EVOLUTIONARY ANTHROPOLOGY PRINCIPLES IVORY COAST AREA THE FOREST FLOOR DEPTH UNEARTHING HORIZON RICH LEVEL PRECISION POSSESSED THE REGION MILLENNIA BERNARD WALTON COLLEAGUES PREVIOUSLY MODERN STONE TOOL RESEARCH REVEALED IDIOSYNCRATIC CHOOSING HEAVY PREFER WEIGH STONE AGE BEGUN INDEED CERTAIN STARCH THE ANCIENT THESE NUTS FINDINGS OBVIOUS CONCLUSION MAYBE HARD PREDICT FIND SOIL LAYERS OLD ENOUGH LOOK GROUP LIVING THE COMMON ANCESTOR DEVELOP WEST AFRICAN CHIMPANZEE DISTINCT THE CASE EXPECT SMALL NUMBER COMMUNITIES LOGICAL IMAGINE SPLIT CENTRAL EAST AFRICAN CHIMP MILLION YEARS AGO SEEMS BEARDED CAPUCHIN EATING CRACKED MARY MCDONALD GOING CENTURIES CONFIRMED MILLION YEARS MACAQUE SITS EVOLUTIONARY TREE NEW WORLD MONKEYS SCATTERED MUST MULTIPLE LIVE ON ISLANDS THAILAND MARK TEAM TECHNIQUES USED TO ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD INVESTIGATE THE HISTORY OF TOOL USE CONDUCTED PRIMARCH BURIED ACTIVITY AREAS DEEP HISTORY DIG SOMEONE HAS GONE BEARDED NATURAL THE ONLY ONE SHELLFISH APPARENTLY THE TRADITION THEN AGAIN PRIMITIVE LONG AGO SOUTH AMERICAN CAPUCHIN MONKEYS LEARNED DAVE KENYA DETAILS EVER LOMEKWIAN HUMAN TECHNOLOGY THE TEAM SIMILAR CHIMPS TELL EARLY HUMAN DRAWING SHARP EDGE ACHEULEAN HAND CUTTING EDGES ANCESTORS LEARN SOPHISTICATED SO LONG AGO BEYOND HUMAN HANDS CHANGED LESS THAN DOUG ALLAN YOU MIGHT THINK THE ANATOMY OF PROBLEM PROBABLY LIES BRAINS IN FACT SERGIO GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SUGGESTS LESS THE LAST LENGTH NOT EQUAL TERMS HANDS HOLDING CRACKS ABILITY CREATE COGNITIVE USEFUL ALEXANDRA HARVARD UNIVERSITY COOKING THE ENERGY RAW DIET GREATER RICHARD WRANGHAM DEVELOPMENT OF ENERGY GROW CLEAR MEAN IDEA HARVARD COLLEAGUE FELIX MIGHT NOT CONTROL SMARTS BENEFITS CAPUCHIN CONTAINER THE APES COOKED WHETHER THE OPPORTUNITY ADVANCE STONE AGE TECHNOLOGY POTATO CHIPS THE FOOD WOOD CHIPS GENERALLY BOTHER THE WOOD SIMPLY UNDERSTOOD COOK RAW FOOD REMOTE LOCATION THE WAY TRANSPORTING FIRESIDE MILLIONS YEARS AGO IMAGE OF CONTROL FIRE MAJOR STEP IN HUMAN HISTORY ARIADNE ZANDBERGEN LEAP ABLE APPRECIATION WORK RELEVANT BRAIN ADVANCED PRESENT POSSIBLE REACHED LIMITS TECHNOLOGICAL POPULATIONS DRAMATICALLY HABITAT DESTRUCTION CANNOT SPREAD SUSTAIN COMPLEX TECHNOLOGIES CAPACITY MUCH MORE THE CHANCE MASTER RELATED STORIES TEETH WILDLIFE THE BIG QUESTIONS ANIMALS FIGHT WARFARE INNATE DISASSEMBLED LUCY SKELETON SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY ALMOST FACIAL EXPRESSIONS CYRIL SPECIAL TRAITS FOLLOW BBC EARTH YOUTUBE INSTAGRAM EXPLORE THE BBC NEWS TERMS OF USE PRIVACY POLICY COOKIES PARENTAL GUIDANCE CONTACT ADVERTISE CHOICES COPYRIGHT CONTENT EXTERNAL READ APPROACH