Primate Archaeology and Adaptation offers an interdisciplinary examination of Nicobar long-tailed macaques, situating their tool use, social behavior, and ecological flexibility within deep evolutionary time and contemporary conservation challenges. It documents the ecology, social organization, and behavioral repertoire of long-tailed macaques, including foraging strategies, food sharing, reproductive dynamics, exploratory behavior, and diverse forms of object manipulation. The book presents detailed accounts of tool-related behaviors, such as leaf 'glove' use, substrate selection for pounding, and the innovative use of anthropogenic materials, while carefully distinguishing between tool use and broader object use. By bridging fossil history, behavioral ecology, and archaeological method, it rethinks material culture beyond humans.
This book will interest scholars and advanced students in biological anthropology, primatology, archaeology, human evolution, animal behavior, and conservation studies. It will also appeal to researchers working on material culture, island ecology, and South Asian environmental policy.
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Primate Archaeology across India and Abroad
Chapter 2: Knowing the Islands and the Animal
Chapter 3: Food and Foraging Behavior of Nicobar Long-Tailed Macaques
Chapter 4: Social Behavior, Exploration, and Context-dependent Behavioral Responses in Long-tailed Macaques
Chapter 5: Macaque Social and Reproductive Behavior
Chapter 6: Tool-use and Culture, Discovering Newness and Local Vibes: Lasting Traits and Vanished Details
Chapter 7: Conservation and the Future of Tool-Use Behavior and Cultural Heritage in Nicobar Macaques
About the Author :
Jayashree Mazumder is an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Delhi. She was formerly an ANRF/SERB National Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru and completed her PhD from Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Mohali. A biological anthropologist and primatologist, her research spans primate archaeology, tool use, and material culture in Nicobar long-tailed macaques, and currently centers on the movement ecology and conservation of hoolock gibbons in Northeast India.
