Ancient Chimps Used Tools

According to a new BBC article, ancient chimpanzees in West Africa may have used stone tools to crack nuts and possibly more. Chimps were first observed using tools in the 19^th-Century and scientists are uncertain as to whether the chimps began doing so in imitation of humans, or if we actually learned tool usage from them.

Carbon-dating places stone tools found on the Ivory Coast at 4300 years old. According to the researchers, the tools had scratches and fiber shavings which indicated they'd been used for cracking nuts. The settlement is the only known ancient chimpanzee site.