Population interconnectivity shapes the distribution and complexity of chimpanzee cumulative culture

Abstract

While cumulative culture is a hallmark of hominin evolution, its origins can be traced back to our common ancestor with chimpanzees. Here we investigate the evolutionary origins of chimpanzee cumulative culture, and why it remained incipient. To trace cultural transmission among the four chimpanzee subspecies, we compared between-population networks based on genetic markers of recent migration and shared cultural traits. We show that limited levels of interconnectivity favored the emergence of a few instances of cumulative culture in chimpanzees. As in humans, cultural complexification likely happened in steps, with between-community transmission promoting incremental changes and repurposing of technologies. We propose that divergence in social patterns led to increased between-group mobility in Homo, propelling our lineage towards a trajectory of irreversible dependence on cultural exchange and complexification. One-Sentence SummaryPopulation interconnectivity through migration explains the origins of chimpanzee cumulative culture and why it remained incipient