How do chimpanzees say, 'I want to have sex with you?' By clipping a leaf or knocking on a tree trunk? How do they eat live aggressive ants? By using a short stick with one hand or long stick with both? Ivorian and Tanzanian chimpanzees answer these questions differently, as would humans from France and China if asked how they eat rice. Christophe Boesch takes readers into the lives of chimpanzees from different African regions, highlighting the debate about culture. His ethnography reveals how simple techniques have evolved into complex ones, how teaching styles differ, how material culture widens access to new food sources and how youngsters learn culture. This journey reveals many parallels between humans and chimpanzees and points to striking differences. Written in a vivid and accessible style, Wild Cultures places the reader in social and ecological contexts that shed light on our twin cultures.

Acknowledgments pagex

Introduction 1

And the culture war started ... 3

Chimpanzee ethnography to uncover culture 4

Cul tural biases and scientific progress 5

1. Studying culture in the wild 9

To study animals, all you need is love 12

First steps towards chimpanzee cul ture 14

About animals, ignorance, and anthropocentrism 16

Time to realize that Descartes got it wrong 19

Synopsis 21

2. From human culture to wild culture 22

Culture and ecology in humans 27

D ifferent approaches to culture 28

Animal ethnography to expose animal cultures 30

Imo, the cul tural innovator 32

Social transmission of cultural traits 33

The paradox of studying "culture outside of cul ture" 39

Animal cultures to learn about human cultures 45

Synopsis 46

3. Shaping nature into home: about material culture 47

Tool makers in evolution 52

Material culture shapes one's own world 53

Technology boosts chimpanzee cultural ethnography 56

Cumulative cultural evolution in chimpanzees 66

When culture and environment mix 72

Material culture in other species 74

History of material culture: chimpanzee Stone Age 76

Contribution to the cultural debate 78

Synopsis 80

4. One for all and all for one: about social culture 81

Hunting cultures in chimpanzees 86

Cooperation: acting at the same time or acting together? 91

Cooperation in high-risk situations 96

Cultural altruism in chimpanzees 100

Social niche construction in animals 102

Contribution to the cultural debate 104

Synopsis 107

5. I want to have sex with you: about symbolic culture 108

Arbitrary social conventions in chimpanzees 112

Innovation and transmission of inventions 118

Social transmission of symbolic cultural traits 122

Symbolic culture and social conventions in other animal species 123

Contribution to the culture debate 124

Synopsis 127

6. Leaming culture: from pupils to teachers 128

Cultural acquisition in the natural world 131

Mothers as the main culture vehicle 136

Teaching styles differ across chimpanzee and human cultures 142

Leaming one's own social culture 149

Contribution to the culture debate 153

Synopsis 154

7. Dead or alive? Towards a notion of death and empathy 155

Understanding of death in humans and other animals 160

Mourning and compassion around death in chimpanzees 162

About empathy and compassion 165

The origin of a notion of death 172

Contribution to the culture debate 174

Synopsis 175

8. Wiid culture - wild Intelligence: cognition and culture 176

Culture-driven cognition 183

Cognition and culture in humans 186

Cultural cognition in the laboratory versus in the real world 192

Cultural cognition in nature 200

Culture and cognition in chimpanzees 202

Contribution to the culture debate 212

Synopsis 214

9.Uniquely chimpanzee - uniquely human 215

Cultural diversity in humans and chimpanzees 219

Cultural transmission mechanisms in chimpanzees and humans 225

Uniquely chimpanzee culture 228

Uniquely human culture 232

Ethnography of culture 237

Synopsis 238

Epilogue: Will we have the time to study chimpanzee culture? 239

References 243

Index 267

中科院文献情报中心