Primate archaeology is a field of research established in 2008 that combines research interests and foci from primatology and archaeology. The main aim of primate archaeology is to study behavior of extant and extinct primates and the associated material records. The discipline attempts to move beyond archaeology's anthropocentric perspective by placing the focus on both past and present primate tool use. Primate archaeology is characterized by the combination of archaeological and primatological methods, and researchers consider both non-human primate tools and their behaviour in tandem. Primate archaeology has the unique opportunity to observe the tool-use behaviors of extant non-human primates and the formation of the material record that emerges from that behavior. It is this ability to observe behavior and the subsequent material deposition resulting in a material record recoverable using standard archaeological field methods that gives this new field of research the possibility of reconstructing, predicting, and interpreting extant primates' tool use spatial patterns. Overall, primate archaeology helps researchers understand how early hominins used material culture, what these patterns reveal about ancient hominin cognition, as well as patterns of landscape use that could allow researchers to identify behaviors that are difficult to detect archaeologically. Primate archaeology's main focus is on the study of the non-human primates that have been observed using tools in the wild: chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), robust capuchins (Sapajus spp.) and long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis aurea). Since its conception primate archaeology has also implemented the use of captive studies akin to archaeological experiments with non-human primates looking into stone tool manufacture.
Origins The establishment of primate archaeology as an official discipline took place around 2008 and 2009. However, the two-fold nature of this relatively new subject area can be traced back to some major events in the development of both archaeology and primatology.
Archaeology The search for the earliest evidence of material culture in the archaeological record has been one of archaeology's major aims almost since its inception as a discipline. With the classification of stone tools as human-made artifacts and not fossils, towards the end of the seventeenth century, stone tools soon became key evidence for arranging the archaeological record into sequential cultural phases. The discovery of Eoliths, which were thought to be flint tools in the Oligocene deposits of Thenay in France led to the establishment of the Eolithic culture and Homopithecus bourgeoisi. The Eolithic tools were described as being directly used in their natural state or being poorly worked. Although some influential scholars tried to discredit the Eolith hypothesis, the discovery of the Piltdown Man in 1912 only helped to reinforce its credibility because the fossil remains were found in association with Eolithic tools. Both the Eolithic culture and Piltdown man remained controversial until they were finally discredited around the 1950s.
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