The Lawrence Jacobsen Library
Books Received (Primate-Science/PrimateLit)

THE CULTURED CHIMPANZEE: REFLECTIONS ON CULTURAL PRIMATOLOGY

By: William McGrew

(Taken from the book jacket)
Short of inventing a time machine, we will never see our extinct forebears 
in action and be able to determine directly how human behaviour and culture 
have developed.  However, we can learn from out closest living relatives, 
the African great apes.  "The Cultured Chimpanzee" explores the astonishing 
variation in chimpanzee behaviour across its range, which cannot be 
explained by individual learning, genetic or environmental influences.  It 
promotes the view that this rich diversity in social life and material 
culture reflects social learning of traditions, and more closely resembles 
cultural variety in humans than the simpler behaviour of other animal 
species.  This stimulating book shows that the field of cultural 
primatology may therefore help us to reconstruct the cultural evolution of 
Homo Sapiens from earlier forms, and that it is essential for 
anthropologists, archaeologists and zoologists to work together to develop 
a stronger understanding of human and primate cultural evolution.

About the Author

(Taken from the book jacket)
William C. McGrew is Professor of Anthropology and Zoology at Miami 
University in Ohio.  He has studied the socioecology of wild chimpanzees 
throughout their range, from Senegal to Tanzania, for over 30 
years.  Amongst other works, he has written Chimpanzee Material Culture 
(Cambridge, 1992) and edited Great Ape Societies (Cambridge, 1996) with 
Linda Marchant and Toshisada Nishida.


CONTENTS

Preface, Page ix
Acknowledgments, Page xi

Part One
Introduction, Page 1
Levels of Study, Page 4
Human Uniqueness, Page 7
Palaeoculture, Page 12

Part Two
Definition, Page 15
Checklists, Page 17
Beyond Behaviour, Page 19
Essentials, Page 21
The Way We Do Things, Page 24

Part Three
Disciplines, Page 31
Anthropology, Page 31
Archaeology, Page 35
Psychology, Page 39
Imitation, Page 41
Teaching, Page 43
Zoology, Page 46

Part Four
Creatures Other Than Primates, Page 50
Fish, Page 54
Birds, Page 55
Mammals, Page 57
Cetaceans, Page 58
Discussion, Page 60

Part Five
Primates, Page 63
Capuchin Monkeys, Page 64
Macaque Monkeys, Page 67
Great Apes, Page 71
Discussion, Page 77

Part Six
Chimpanzee Ethnography, Page 86
Provisioning, Page 95
Tradition, Page 98
Doing Ape Ethnography, Page 99

Part Seven
Chimpanzee Material Culture, Page 103
Shelter, Page 107
Subsistence: Faunivory, Page 111
Subsistence: Herbivory, Page 117
Social Material Culture, Page 120
Self-Maintenance, Page 123
Significance of Material Culture, Page 125

Part Eight
Chimpanzee Society, Page 131
Vocal Communication, Page 132
Grooming, Page 133
Social Scratch, Page 135
Grooming Hand-Clasp, Page 137
Cross-Species Social Traditions, Page 143
Cultural Life, Page 148

Part Nine
Lessons from Cultural Primatology, Page 162

Part Ten
Does Cultural Primatology Have A Future?, Page 190
Things To Do, Page 190
Cultural Survival, Page 194

References, Page 197
Author Index, Page 224
Subject Index, Page 231

HOW TO ORDER

Cambridge University Press
40 West 20th Street
New York, NY 10011-4211

Paperback ISBN: 0521535433 $29.99
Hardback ISBN: 0521828414 $90.00

Direct link to Cambridge University Press's Home Page:
http://uk.cambridge.org/
Direct link to online catalogue entry:
http://uk.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521535433

Posted Date: 1/10/05