Brazilian scientists have unearthed a number of 50,000-year-old stone tools and were shocked to discover that they were not made by any species of the human world, but by a completely different organism.
In a paper published in the scientific journal The Hologen, a team led by researchers Agustín M. Agnolín and Federico L. Agnolín from the National Institute of Anthropology and Thought of Latin America (Argentina) and the Argentine Natural Science Museum reported that these remarkable tools may have been created by the ancestors of today’s capuchin monkeys.
The world of ancient primate species – (Photo: SCI-NEWS)
This collection of ancient stone tools made from pebbles and quartz has appeared at more than 800 archaeological sites in northeastern Brazil. The oldest tools have been dated to be as much as 50,000 years old.
According to Science Alert, they were naturally classified as stone tools made by humans.
However, in 2016, they discovered some surprising details while reviewing studies observing contemporary capuchin monkey populations in Brazil: they frequently use small stones as hammers and larger, flat stones as anvils to crack hard nuts.
These tools were “produced” carefully and intentionally, with breakage patterns resembling how prehistoric people made stone tools.
Even more shockingly, they… closely resemble what they believed to be tools from the Stone Age 50,000 years ago that had been excavated.
As a result, researchers had to acknowledge an unbelievable truth: the stone tools they found in northeastern Brazil, including Pedra Fudara and several nearby sites, are products of capuchin monkeys from 50,000 years ago.
Capuchin monkeys, also known as hooded monkeys, are currently distributed across tropical forests in Central and South America, with a lifespan of approximately 15-25 years. Their name derives from their fur, which resembles a monk’s robe with a hood.
