Monkeys – Not Humans – Made Ancient Sets of Stone Tools in Brazil, Study Finds

The stone tools found in Brazil are thought to be the work of capuchin monkeys, according to an academic article.

The early archeological sites from Brazil may have belonged to capuchin monkeys, according to an article published in the peer-reviewed science journal.

According to an article, archeologists discovered ancient stone tools made from locally occurring cobbles during previous excavations at Pedra Furada, a collection of over 800 archeological sites in northeastern Brazil.

According to the article, the oldest stone tools discovered appear to be up to 50,000 years old, which led to some academics suggesting that it was evidence of early human habitation of the region.

Unexpected findings from 2016 challenged that theory.

The findings show that capuchin monkeys in northeastern Brazil can make and use a lot of stone tools.

The idea that monkeys could be responsible for producing the Pedra Furada discoveries was first thought to be true.

According to Agnoln and Agnoln, there is a lot of evidence suggesting that the tools weren't made by humans.

The ancient sites in Brazil do not actually belong to the first Americans, but are the result of monkey activity, according to a report by Argentina's National Scientific and Technical Research Council.

The tools at Pedra Furada were compared to those used by capuchin monkeys.

There was no difference between the tools of 50,000 years ago and those of today.

The monkeys use small stones as hammers and large rocks as anvils to crack open nuts and seeds, according to research and observations.

According to CONICET's news release, the result is that the rocks used often break, generating rock fragments that are very similar to those produced by humans.

The researchers said in the article that there wasn't evidence to suggest a trace of humans.

"Our study shows that the tools from Pedra Furada and other nearby sites in Brazil were nothing more than the product of capuchin monkeys breaking nuts and rocks tens of thousands of years ago," Agnoln said.

The original article was published by Business Insider.