Culture is often associated solely with human societies, encompassing shared knowledge, behaviors, customs, and traditions passed down through generations. However, evidence from various primate species challenges this view, raising the question: do non-human primates also possess culture?
Understanding Culture Beyond Humans
In primatology, “culture” refers to learned behaviors and traditions socially transmitted within a group. These behaviors persist across generations and vary between different groups of the same species. Cultural traits are acquired through social learning, not genetically programmed or simply a response to the immediate environment. This framework helps scientists identify shared behavioral patterns not explained by genetics or ecology.
Documented Cultural Behaviors
Cultural behaviors have been observed across various primate species.
Chimpanzees
Chimpanzees exhibit a wide array of cultural practices, with over 40 distinct patterns identified across communities. Some populations use stones as hammers and anvils to crack nuts, a technique varying in style, such as using three stones in Guinea to stabilize the anvil. Other groups engage in “termite fishing,” crafting tools from sticks or plant stems to extract termites, with designs and methods differing by location.
Chimpanzees also show cultural variations in social customs, like the “grooming handclasp,” where two individuals clasp hands overhead while grooming. This behavior is present in some populations but absent in others, and its style can vary between communities. Beyond tool use and social rituals, chimpanzees display diverse foraging techniques, including “leaf sponging” to collect water or honey. Some groups use leaves, while others might innovate with moss, and the technique itself can vary.
Capuchin Monkeys
Capuchin monkeys also show sophisticated cultural behaviors, particularly in tool use. Wild bearded capuchins in Brazil habitually use stone tools to crack nuts and other foods, a practice documented for at least 3,000 years. Different capuchin populations vary in tool choices, with some using disproportionately heavy tools even for fragile foods, suggesting a cultural preference over a purely functional one. Beyond tool use, a unique, seemingly non-adaptive behavior of abducting and carrying infant howler monkeys has spread as a social tradition in one capuchin population.
Japanese Macaques and Orangutans
Japanese macaques are known for cultural innovations, notably “sweet potato washing,” which originated with a young female named Imo in 1953. This behavior, initially washing muddy sweet potatoes in a stream, evolved to using seawater and spread throughout the group, persisting for generations. Another cultural behavior in Japanese macaques is “stone handling,” where individuals manipulate stones by rubbing, clacking, or pounding them, a tradition passed down from older to younger individuals. Orangutans also exhibit cultural traits, including specific tool uses for extracting insects or honey from tree holes and using leaves as “gloves” to handle spiny fruits. Variations in nest-building methods have also been observed across different orangutan groups.
Learning and Transmission
Cultural behaviors in primates primarily transmit through social learning. Observational learning, where individuals acquire information by watching others, is a significant pathway for traditions to spread. Imitation, copying another’s actions, also plays a role, though its extent and fidelity vary among primate species. Some researchers suggest that while primates learn by observing, they often engage in “emulation,” focusing on the outcome rather than precisely replicating movements.
Social facilitation, where the presence or activity of others encourages a behavior, also contributes to the spread of cultural traits. For instance, young Japanese macaques are more likely to engage in stone handling if their mothers frequently perform the behavior, suggesting proximity and observation influence acquisition. While active teaching is debated among non-human primates, behaviors can transmit vertically from parents to offspring, or obliquely and horizontally among non-kin and peers. This social transmission allows behaviors like the chimpanzee grooming handclasp or macaque potato washing to become established traditions within specific communities, persisting over extended periods.
What Primate Culture Means for Us
Recognizing culture in primates alters our understanding of human uniqueness and the evolutionary origins of our complex societies. The presence of learned, socially transmitted behaviors in non-human primates suggests culture’s foundations are not exclusive to humans but have deeper evolutionary roots. This challenges the view that human culture is a singular phenomenon, highlighting a continuity in cognitive sophistication across primate lineages.
The study of primate culture offers insights into how early human culture might have developed, with social learning and behavioral innovations potentially driving evolutionary changes. Ongoing scientific discussions explore the definition and extent of primate culture, particularly regarding “cumulative culture,” where innovations build upon previous ones to create increasingly complex behaviors. While some argue cumulative culture is primarily a human trait, observed variations in primate tool use and social customs indicate a remarkable capacity for behavioral flexibility and adaptation. These findings underscore primate cognitive abilities and emphasize the importance of social environments in shaping their behaviors, urging a broader perspective on culture itself.