User:ACebeiro/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
I am not evaluating an article per se since I am going to be writing an article from scratch. The article I will create is “Primate Archaeology”.

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose this article because of the relevance primate archaeology is currently gaining primarily across archaeology but also in biological anthropology. Particularly, one of primate archaeology’s main contributions is helping to understand the mechanisms behind the origins of stone tools.

It matters because even though primate archaeology is still in its infancy as a new discipline (it was officially established in 2009 [Haslam et al. 2009]), it highlights the importance of creating an interdisciplinary discipline merging fields such as primatology, biological anthropology and archaeology.

Although I cannot give a preliminary impression of the article because I am writing it from scratch, I can say that I was very surprised there is not a “primate archaeology” page yet. Browsing around Wikipedia, I have noticed that there are multiple articles that are somewhat related with primate archaeology. However, none of those articles are capable of acknowledging the importance of this field nor the contributions and influences primate archaeology has had for the topic of the article. For example, there is a Wikipedia page for Julio Mercader Florín who was involved in the excavation and discovery of Panda 100 which can be considered the first chimpanzee archaeological site ever discovered. Nonetheless, the Wikipedia article does not address the name of the site or its connection with primate archaeology at all.

Evaluate the article
Lead section

For the lead section I am planning on giving a concise and comprehensive overview of the field of primate archaeology. Consequently, even if the reader only reads the lead section, they will still get an idea of the most important features and goals of primate archaeology. In order to achieve this aim, I will start by providing a succinct definition of primate archaeology. Furthermore, the lead section will go over the main sections of the article (see “organization and writing quality” assessment below) with a brief overview of their contents. This way, I will also make sure to not include any information that is not present in the article itself.

Content

Even though I cannot evaluate the content of an existing article, I can comment on the type of information I would like to include in my article.

So far, I plan to begin by taking the reader through the events that lead to the origins of primate archaeology as an officially established field. Thus, I will write about major historical events leading to the foundation of both archaeology and primatology since they are the skeleton of primate archaeology. For archaeology I am going to focus on the birth of paleolithic archaeology with an emphasis on stone tools (e.g., the Leakeys and the Oldowan). In primatology the emphasis will be on the beginnings of the field through Japanese primatology and the importance of culture in non-human primates as well as a historical perspective on the association of tool use with non-human primates (e.g., the earliest report of tool use was of chimpanzee nut-cracking by Savage and Wyman 1844).

After the historical context, I will delve into case studies developed from a primate archaeological perspective looking into non-human primates using stone tools. This section will primarily cover chimpanzees, bearded capuchins, and long-tailed macaques since they are the most widely studied in primate archaeology. However, I will also talk about captive non-human primates such as bonobos and the relevance other taxa have had in primate archaeology.

Furthermore, I am planning on covering the different types of methods used in primate archaeology to highlight the role of both primatology and archaeology in the field.

Finally, I will talk about some of the main discoveries in primate archaeology and its impact in human evolutionary studies. For example, the relationship between primate archaeology and the discovery of the Lomekwian.

Tone and Balance

In Wikipedia articles the writer must be neutral. Consequently, one of my biggest challenges will be to remain unbiased in my writing no matter how many opinions I have in relation with the topic I am referring to.

In order to do this, I have to filter through my thoughts and be totally aware of what I am writing. For example, even though I believe primate archaeology should be considered a four-field instead of a two-field discipline, I will not give this opinion nor mention it in my Wikipedia article.

Sources and References

For sources and references I want to make sure I use all of the main peer-reviewed articles on the topic as well as all of the articles that have had an impact on the emergence of the field of primate archaeology. Furthermore, I am also going to include all of the articles that have been influenced by primate archaeology research.

The preliminary list of references (subject to change) is as follows:

·      Arroyo, A., Falótico, T., Burguet-Coca, A., Expósito, I., Quinn, P. and Proffitt, T., 2021. Use-wear and residue analysis of pounding tools used by wild capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus) from Serra da Capivara (Piauí, Brazil). Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 35, p.102690.

·      Beck, B.B., 1980. Animal Tool Behavior. Garland STPM Pub.

·      Benito-Calvo, A., Carvalho, S., Arroyo, A., Matsuzawa, T. and de la Torre, I., 2015, First GIS analysis of modern stone tools used by wild chimpanzees in Bossou, Guinea, West Africa, PLoS ONE, 10(3): e0121613.

·      Boesch, C., Kalan, A. K., Mundry, R., Arandjelovic, M., Pika, S., Dieguez, P., Ayimisin, E. A., Barciela, A., Coupland, C., Egbe, V. E., Eno-Nku, M., Michael Fay, J., Fine, D., Adriana Hernandez-Aguilar, R., Hermans, V., Kadam, P., Kambi, M., Llana, M., Maretti, G., Morgan, D., Murai, M., Neil, E., Nicholl, S., Ormsby, L. J., Orume, R., Pacheco, L., Piel, A., Sanz, C., Sciaky, L., Stewart, F. A., Tagg, N., Wessling E. G., Willie, J., and Kühl, H. S., 2020. Chimpanzee ethnography reveals unexpected cultural diversity. Nature Human Behaviour, 4(9), pp.910–916.

·      Byrne, R.W., 2005. The maker not the tool: The cognitive significance of great ape manual skills. In V. Roux and B. Brill (Eds.) Stone knapping the necessary conditions for a uniquely hominin behaviour. Cambridge: McDonald Institute Monograph Series.

·      Carpenter, A., 1887. Monkeys opening oysters. Nature, 36(916), pp.53-53.

·      Caruana, M. V., Carvalho, S., Braun, D.R., Presnyakova, D., Haslam, M., Archer, W., Bobe, R. and Harris, J.W., 2014, Quantifying traces of tool use: a novel morphometric analysis of damage patterns on percussive tools, PLoS ONE, 9(11): e113856.

·      Carvalho, S. and Almeida-Warren, K., 2019. Primate archaeology. In Encyclopedia of animal behavior. Academic Press, pp. 397-407.

·      Carvalho, S., Cunha, E., Sousa, C. and Matsuzawa, T., 2008. Chaînes opératoires and resource-exploitation strategies in chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) nut cracking. Journal of Human Evolution, 55(1), pp.148-163.

·      Darwin, C., 1871. The descent of man. New York: D. Appleton.

·      de la Torre, I., 2011. The origins of stone tool technology in Africa: a historical perspective. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 366(1567), pp.1028-1037.

·      Falótico, T., Proffitt, T., Ottoni, E.B., Staff, R.A. and Haslam, M., 2019. Three thousand years of wild capuchin stone tool use. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 3(7), pp.1034-1038.

·      Fragaszy, D., Izar, P., Visalberghi, E., Ottoni, E.B. and de Oliveira, M.G., 2004. Wild capuchin monkeys (Cebus libidinosus) use anvils and stone pounding tools. American Journal of Primatology: Official Journal of the American Society of Primatologists, 64(4), pp.359-366.

·      Goodall, J., 1968. The behaviour of free-living chimpanzees in the Gombe Stream Reserve. Animal Behaviour Monographs, 1, pp.161-IN12.

·      Gumert, M. D., Kluck, M., and Malaivijitnond, S., 2009. The physical characteristics and usage patterns of stone axe and pounding hammers used by long-tailed macaques in the Andaman Sea region of Thailand. American Journal of Primatology, 71(7), pp.594–608.

·      Harmand, S., Lewis, J.E., Feibel, C.S., Lepre, C.J., Prat, S., Lenoble, A., Boës, X., Quinn, R.L., Brenet, M., Arroyo, A. and Taylor, N., 2015. 3.3-million-year-old stone tools from Lomekwi 3, West Turkana, Kenya. Nature, 521(7552), pp.310-315.

·      Haslam, M., Hernandez-Aguilar, A., Ling, V., Carvalho, S., De La Torre, I., DeStefano, A., Du, A., Hardy, B., Harris, J., Marchant, L. and Matsuzawa, T., 2009. Primate archaeology. Nature, 460(7253), pp.339-344.

·      Haslam, M., Hernandez-Aguilar, R.A., Proffitt, T., Arroyo, A., Falótico, T., Fragaszy, D., Gumert, M., Harris, J.W., Huffman, M.A., Kalan, A.K. and Malaivijitnond, S., 2017. Primate archaeology evolves. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 1(10), pp.1431-1437.

·      Haslam, M., Luncz, L., Pascual-Garrido, A., Falótico, T., Malaivijitnond, S. and Gumert, M., 2016. Archaeological excavation of wild macaque stone tools. Journal of Human Evolution, 96, pp.134-138.

·      Humle, T. and Newton-Fisher, N.E., 2013. “Culture in non-human primates”. In Ellen, R., Lycett, S.J. and Johns, S.E (Eds.) Understanding cultural transmission in anthropology: A critical synthesis. Berghahn Books, pp.80-101.

·      Kawamura, S., 1959. The process of sub-culture propagation among Japanese macaques. Primates, 2(1), pp.43-60.

·      Koops, K., Soumah, A.G., van Leeuwen, K.L., Camara, H.D. and Matsuzawa, T., 2022. Field experiments find no evidence that chimpanzee nut cracking can be independently innovated. Nature Human Behaviour, 6(4), pp.487-494.

·      Leakey L. S. B. 1934. The sequence of Stone Age cultures in east Africa. In Evans-Pritchard E. E., Firth R., Malinowski B., Schapera I. (Eds.) Essays presented to CG Seligman. London, UK: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Limited, pp. 143-146.

·      Leakey L. S. B. 1961. Africa's contribution to the evolution of man. ''South African. Archaeological Bulletin.'' 16, pp.3–7.

·      Leakey, L.S.B., Hopwood, A.T. and Reck, H., 1931. New yields from the Oldoway bone beds, Tanganyika territory. Nature, 128(3243), pp.1075-1075.

·      Leakey L. S. B., Tobias P. V., Napier J. R. 1964. A new species of the genus Homo from Olduvai Gorge. Nature 202, pp.5–7.

·      Ling, V., Hernandez‐Aguilar, A., Haslam, M. and Carvalho, S., 2009. The origins of percussive technology: a smashing time in Cambridge. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews: Issues, News, and Reviews, 18(2), pp.48-49.

·      Luncz, L.V., Arroyo, A., Falótico, T., Quinn, P. and Proffitt, T., 2022. A primate model for the origin of flake technology. Journal of Human Evolution, 171, p.103250.

·      Luncz, L.V., Wittig, R.M. and Boesch, C., 2015. Primate archaeology reveals cultural transmission in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 370(1682), p.20140348.

·      Malaivijitnond, S., Lekprayoon, C., Tandavanittj, N., Panha, S., Cheewatham, C. and Hamada, Y., 2007. Stone‐tool usage by Thai long‐tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis). American Journal of Primatology: Official Journal of the American Society of Primatologists, 69(2), pp.227-233.

·      Matsuzawa, T., 2003. The Ai project: historical and ecological contexts. Animal cognition, 6(4), pp.199-211.

·      Matsuzawa, T., 2009. The chimpanzee mind: in search of the evolutionary roots of the human mind. Animal Cognition, 12(1), pp.1-9.

·      Mercader, J., Panger, M. and Boesch, C., 2002. Excavation of a chimpanzee stone tool site in the African rainforest. Science, 296(5572), pp.1452-1455.

·      Neufuss, J., Humle, T., Creaschi, A. and Kivell, T.L. 2017. Nut-cracking behaviour in wild-born, rehabilitated bonobos (Pan paniscus): a comprehensive study of hand-preference, hand grips and efficiency. American Journal of Primatology 79 (2): e22589.

·      Proffitt, T., Haslam, M., Mercader, J.F., Boesch, C. and Luncz, L.V., 2018. Revisiting Panda 100, the first archaeological chimpanzee nut-cracking site. Journal of Human Evolution, 124, pp.117-139.

·      Proffitt, T., Luncz, L.V., Falótico, T., Ottoni, E.B., de la Torre, I. and Haslam, M., 2016. Wild monkeys flake stone tools. Nature, 539(7627), pp.85-88.

·      Reeves, J.S., Proffitt, T. and Luncz, L.V., 2021. Modeling a primate technological niche. Scientific reports, 11(1), pp.1-9.

·      Resende, B. D., Nagy-Reis, M. B., Lacerda, F. N., Pagnotta, M., & Savalli, C., 2014. Tufted capuchin monkeys (Sapajus spp.) learning how to crack nuts: Does variability decline throughout development? Behavioural Processes, 109, pp.89–94.

·      Savage, T. S., and Wyman, J., 1844. Observations on the external characters and habits of the ''Troglodytes niger. Boston Journal of Natural History, 4'', 362–386.

·      Schick, K.D., Toth, N., Garufi, G., Savage-Rumbaugh, E.S., Rumbaugh, D. and Sevcik, R., 1999. Continuing investigations into the stone tool-making and tool-using capabilities of a bonobo (Pan paniscus). Journal of Archaeological Science, 26(7), pp.821-832.

·      Sept, J.M., King, B.J., McGrew, W.C., Moore, J., Paterson, J.D., Strier, K.B., Uehara, S., Whiten, A. and Wrangham, R.W., 1992. Was there no place like home? A new perspective on early hominid archaeological sites from the mapping of chimpanzee nests [and comments and reply]. Current Anthropology, 33(2), pp.187-207.

·      Tennie, C., Bandini, E., van Schaik, C. P., and Hopper, L. M., 2020. The zone of latent solutions and its relevance to understanding ape cultures''. Biology and Philosophy, 35''(55).

·      Tennie, C., Call, J., and Tomasello, M., 2009. Ratcheting up the ratchet: On the evolution of cumulative culture. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 364(1528), pp.2405–2415.

·      Toth, N., Schick, K.D., Savage-Rumbaugh, E.S., Sevcik, R.A. and Rumbaugh, D.M., 1993. Pan the tool-maker: investigations into the stone tool-making and tool-using capabilities of a bonobo (Pan paniscus). Journal of Archaeological Science, 20(1), pp.81-91.

·      Westergaard, G.C. and Suomi, S.J., 1994. A simple stone-tool technology in monkeys. Journal of Human Evolution, 27(5), pp.399-404.

·      Whiten, A., Goodall, J., McGrew, W.C., Nishida, T., Reynolds, V., Sugiyama, Y., Tutin, C.E., Wrangham, R.W. and Boesch, C., 1999. Cultures in chimpanzees. Nature, 399(6737), pp.682-685.

·      Wood, B. and Collard, M., 1999. The changing face of genus Homo. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews: Issues, News, and Reviews, 8(6), pp.195-207.

·      Wright, R.V., 1972. Imitative learning of a flaked stone technology-the case of an orangutan. The Australian Journal of Anthropology, 8(4), pp.296-306.

Furthermore, I will connect my article with currently existing pages in Wikipedia. Some examples of this are: Kanzi, Lomekwi, Black-striped capuchin, Tufted capuchin, Chimpanzee, Bonobo, Crab-eating macaque, Archaeology, Primatology, etc.

Organization and Writing quality

Given that this article is yet to be written, I cannot comment on writing quality, or grammatical and spelling errors. However, I can explain how I am planning to organize the article.

Currently, I think I will have between 4-5 main sections with subsections in some of them. Right now, the working outline is as follows:


 * Origins
 * Archaeology
 * Primatology


 * Tool use in non-human primates
 * Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)
 * Bearded capuchins (Sapajus libidinosus)
 * Long-tailed Macaques (Macaca fasciularis aurea)
 * Other non-human primates


 * Methods
 * Site formation processes
 * Use-wear and residue analysis


 * Implications for the study of human evolution

However, I want to stress that this is only a preliminary outline, and I will probably add/remove some sections and subsections (especially in the Methods section).

Images and Media

Since I am still in the conceptualization process of the article, I only have some ideas and examples of images I might add. However, I am aware of copyright regulations and will abide by them. Thus, in the end my image and media choices will be limited by the type of images that are openly available.

Right now, I think I am going to include at least the following images:


 * Map showing the locations where primate archaeology has conducted research. Thus, I will show sites where capuchins, chimpanzees and macaques have been seen doing tool use. I will place particular attention on percussive behaviors with stone tools given that this is the main focus of primate archaeology.


 * One image per each species of non-human primates I will talk about. Ideally each non-human primate will be using stone tools to stress what I am talking about in the Wikipedia article.


 * If possible, I would like to include photographs of archaeological finds (e.g., percussive tools, Lomekwian or Oldowan stone tools, etc.).

Talk page discussion

Given that this is an article that does not exist yet, there is no talk page discussion. However, given the impact and relevance I am expecting it to have I believe there will be multiple future discussions in the talk page.

Overall impressions

Since the article does not exist yet and I am going to be the one writing it, giving an overall impression is not plausible. For now, I can say that I will do my best to ensure that the article is well-developed and that it covers all of the important aspects of primate archaeology. My aim is to produce an article that at least reaches a Wikipedia “good article” or even a “featured article” standard.