Lise Meitner Research Group Technological Primates
The Technological Primates Research Group aims to investigate tool behaviour across primate species, environments and time. Our overall research focuses on technological evolution and the origin of tool use in our own species and all known tool using non-human primates.
Non-human primates can provide a model for tool use in early hominins. This offers a real world comparative framework to expand our knowledge regarding the adaptive significance of tool mediated behaviour within the primate lineage. Comparative studies across the primate order provide the opportunity to explore social and ecological variables associated with the emergence and development of tool use. Our group integrates new approaches that synthesise field and laboratory-based methods derived from the disciplines of primatology, archaeology, genetics, robotics and comparative psychology. We are part of an extensive network bridging field sites of extant technological primates and archaeological sites of ancestral humans to comprehensively study the evolution of and behaviours associated with tool use.
This group is led by Dr Lydia V. Luncz, for questions and enquiries please email:
Lydia_Luncz@[>>> Please remove the text! <<<]eva.mpg.de
Group staff
Guests
- David Royce Braun
- Chloé Couturier
- Matthew Douglass
- Michael Gill
- Polina Shamraeva
Alumni
- Nora Slania
Publications
2023
Li, L., Reeves, J. S., Lin, S. C., Braun, D. R., & McPherron, S. P. (2023). Did Early Pleistocene hominins control hammer strike angles when making stone tools? Journal of Human Evolution, 183: 103427. |
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Gamalo, L. E., Ilham, K., Jones‐Engel, L., Gill, M., Sweet, R., Aldrich, B., Phiapalath, P., Van Bang, T., Ahmed, T., Kite, S., Paramasivam, S., Seiha, H., Zainol, M. Z., Nielsen, D. R. K., Ruppert, N., Fuentes, A., & Hansen, M. F. (2023). Removal from the wild endangers the once widespread long‐tailed macaque (advance online). American Journal of Primatology, e23547. |
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Bobe, R., Aldeias, V., Alemseged, Z., Anemone, R. L., Archer, W., Aumaître, G., Bamford, M. K., Biro, D., Bourlès, D. L., Doyle Boyd, M., Braun, D. R., Capelli, C., d’Oliveira Coelho, J., Habermann, J. M., Head, J. J., Keddadouche, K., Kupczik, K., Lebatard, A.-E., Lüdecke, T., Macôa, A., Martínez, F. I., Mathe, J., Mendes, C., Paulo, L. M., Pinto, M., Presnyakova, D., Püschel, T. A., Regala, F. T., Sier, M., Ferreira da Silva, M. J., Stalmans, M., & Carvalho, S. (2023). The first Miocene fossils from coastal woodlands in the southern East African Rift. iScience, 26(9): 107644. |
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Reeves, J. S., Proffitt, T., Malaivijitnond, S., & Luncz, L. V. (2023). Emergent technological variation in archaeological landscapes: a primate perspective. Journal of The Royal Society Interface, 20(203): 20230118. |
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Finestone, E. M., Plummer, T. W., Vincent, T. H., Blumenthal, S. A., Ditchfield, P. W., Bishop, L. C., Herries, A. I., Palfery, C. V., Lane, T. P., Mcguire, E., Reeves, J. S., Braun, D. R., Bartilol, S. K., Rotich, N. K., Parkinson, J. A., Lemorini, C., Caricola, I., Kinyanjui, R. N., & Potts, R. (2023). New Oldowan locality Sare River (ca. 1.7 Ma) provides evidence of diverse hominin behaviors on the Homa Peninsula, Kenya. American Journal of Biological Anthropology, 180(S75), 53. |
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Proffitt, T., Reeves, J. S., Braun, D. R., Malaivijitnond, S., & Luncz, L. V. (2023). Wild macaques challenge the origin of intentional tool production. Science Advances, 9(10): eade8159. |
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Plummer, T. W., Oliver, J. S., Finestone, E. M., Ditchfield, P. W., Bishop, L. C., Blumenthal, S. A., Lemorini, C., Caricola, I., Bailey, S. E., Herries, A. I. R., Parkinson, J. A., Whitfield, E., Hertel, F., Kinyanjui, R. N., Vincent, T. H., Li, Y., Louys, J., Frost, S. R., Braun, D. R., Reeves, J. S., Early, E. D. G., Onyango, B., Lamela-Lopez, R., Forrest, F. L., He, H., Lane, T. P., Frouin, M., Nomade, S., Wilson, E. P., Bartilol, S. K., Rotich, N. K., & Potts, R. (2023). Expanded geographic distribution and dietary strategies of the earliest Oldowan hominins and Paranthropus. Science, 379(6632), 561-566. |
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Dunmore, C. J., Karakostis, F. A., van Leeuwen, T., Lu, S.-C., & Proffitt, T. (2023). Tool use and the hand. In C. Hirst, R. Gilmour, F. Cardoso, & K. Plomp ( |
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Ford, L. B., Bethancourt, H. J., Swanson, Z. S., Nzunza, R., Wutich, A., Brewis, A., Young, S., Almeida, D. M., Douglass, M., Ndiema, E. K., Braun, D. R., Pontzer, H., & Rosinger, A. Y. (2023). Water insecurity, water borrowing and psychosocial stress among Daasanach pastoralists in northern Kenya. Water International, 28(1), 63-86. |
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Henke-von der Malsburg, J., Fichtel, C., & Kappeler, P. M. (2023). Retaining memory after hibernation: Performance varies independently of activity levels in wild grey mouse. Ethology, 29(1), 12-23. |
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Koops, K., Arandjelovic, M., Hobaiter, C., Kalan, A., Luncz, L. V., Musgrave, S., Samuni, L., Sanz, C., & Carvalho, S. (2023). Chimpanzee culture in context: Comment on “Blind alleys and fruitful pathways in the comparative study of cultural cognition” by Andrew Whiten. Physics of Life Reviews, 44, 77-80. |
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Proffitt, T., Reeves, J. S., Falótico, T., Arroyo, A., Torre, I. d. l., Ottoni, E. B., & Luncz, L. V. (2023). Identifying intentional flake production at the dawn of technology: a technological and 3D geometric morphometric study. Journal of Archaeological Science, 152: 105740. |
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Reeves, J. S., Proffitt, T., Almeida-Warren, K., & Luncz, L. V. (2023). Modeling Oldowan tool transport from a primate perspective. Journal of Human Evolution, 181: 103399. |
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Reeves, J. S., Tan, A., Malaivijitnond, S., & Luncz, L. V. (2023). Simulation and social network analysis provide insight into the acquisition of tool behaviour in hybrid macaques. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 290(1995): 2022276. |
Open Access2022
Patterson, D. B., Du, A., Faith, J. T., Rowan, J., Uno, K., Behrensmeyer, A. K., Braun, D. R., & Wood, B. A. (2022). Did vegetation change drive the extinction of Paranthropus boisei? Journal of Human Evolution, 173: 103154. |
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Lüdecke, T., Leichliter, J. N., Aldeias, V., Bamford, M. K., Biro, D., Braun, D. R., Capelli, C., Cybulski, J. D., Duprey, N. N., Ferreira da Silva, M. J., Foreman, A. D., Habermann, J. M., Haug, G. H., Martínez, F. I., Mathe, J., Mulch, A., Sigman, D. M., Vonhof, H., Bobe, R., Carvalho, S., & Martínez-García, A. (2022). Carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen stable isotopes in modern tooth enamel: A case study from Gorongosa National Park, central Mozambique. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 10: 2022.958032. |
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Luncz, L. V., Braun, D. R., Marreiros, J., Bamford, M., Zeng, C., Pacome, S. S., Junghenn, P., Buckley, Z., Yao, X., & Carvalho, S. (2022). Chimpanzee wooden tool analysis advances the identification of percussive technology. iScience, 25(11): 105315. |
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Luncz, L. V., Arroyo, A., Falótico, T., Quinn, P., & Proffitt, T. (2022). A primate model for the origin of flake technology. Journal of Human Evolution, 171: 103250. |
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Proffitt, T., Reeves, J. S., Pacome, S. S., & Luncz, L. V. (2022). Identifying functional and regional differences in chimpanzee stone tool technology. Royal Society Open Science, 9(9): 220826. |
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Li, L., Reeves, J. S., Lin, S. C., Tennie, C., & McPherron, S. P. (2022). Quantifying knapping actions: A method for measuring the angle of blow on flakes. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 14(8): 156. |
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Snyder, W. D., Reeves, J. S., & Tennie, C. (2022). Early knapping techniques do not necessitate cultural transmission. Science Advances, 8: eabo2894. |
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Key, A., Lauer, T., Skinner, M. M., Pope, M., Bridgland, D. R., Noble, L., & Proffitt, T. (2022). On the earliest Acheulean in Britain: First dates andin-situ artefacts from the MIS 15 site of Fordwich (Kent, UK). Royal Society Open Science, 9: 211904. |
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Hansen, M. F., Gill, M., Briefer, E. F., Nielsen, D. R. K., & Nijman, V. (2022). Monetary value of live trade in a commonly traded primate, the long-tailed Macaque, based on global trade statistics. Frontiers in Conservation Science, 3: 839131. |
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Carvalho, S., Wessling, E. G., Abwe, E. E., Almeida‐Warren, K., Arandjelovic, M., Boesch, C., Danquah, E., Diallo, M. S., Hobaiter, C., Hockings, K., Humle, T., Ikemeh, R. A., Kalan, A. K., Luncz, L. V., Ohashi, G., Pascual‐Garrido, A., Piel, A., Samuni, L., Soiret, S., Sanz, C., & Koops, K. (2022). Using nonhuman culture in conservation requires careful and concerted action. Conservation Letters, 15(2): e12860. |
2021
Cissewski, J., & Luncz, L. V. (2021). Symbolic signal use in wild chimpanzee gestural communication?: A theoretical framework. Frontiers in Psychology, 12: 718414. |
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Reeves, J. S., Proffitt, T., & Luncz, L. V. (2021). Modeling a primate technological niche. Scientific Reports, 11(1): 23139. |
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Proffitt, T., Reeves, J. S., Benito-Calvo, A., Sánchez-Romero, L., Arroyo, A., Malaijivitnond, S., & Luncz, L. V. (2021). Three-dimensional surface morphometry differentiates behaviour on primate percussive stone tools. Journal of The Royal Society Interface, 18(184): 20210576. |
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Reeves, J. S., Braun, D. R., Finestone, E. M., & Plummer, T. W. (2021). Ecological perspectives on technological diversity at Kanjera South. Journal of Human Evolution, 158: 103029. |
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Proffitt, T., Bargalló, A., & de la Torre, I. (2021). The effect of raw material on the identification of knapping skill: A case study from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 29(1), 50-82. |
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Arroyo, A., Falótico, T., Burguet-Coca, A., Expósito, I., Quinn, P., & Proffitt, T. (2021). Use-wear and residue analysis of pounding tools used by wild capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus) from Serra da Capivara (Piauí, Brazil). Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 35: 102690. |
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Douglass, M., Davies, B., Braun, D. R., Tyler Faith, J., Power, M., & Reeves, J. S. (2021). Deriving original nodule size of lithic reduction sets from cortical curvature: An application to monitor stone artifact transport from bipolar reduction. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 35: 102671. |
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Proffitt, T. (2021). Prehistoric Stone Tools of Eastern Africa: A Guide written by John J. Shea. Journal of African Archaeology, 19, 127-128. |
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Pykles, B. C., & Reeves, J. S. (2021). Hawaiian Latter-day Saints in the Utah Desert: The negotiation of identity at Iosepa. Historical Archaeology, 55, 501-510. |
2020
Luncz, L. V., & van de Waal, E. (2020). Cultural transmission in dispersing primates. In L. M. Hopper, & S. R. Ross ( |