Data from: The fourth dimension of tool use: temporally enduring artefacts aid primates learning to use tools

All investigated cases of habitual tool use in wild chimpanzees and capuchin monkeys include youngsters encountering durable artefacts, most often in a supportive social context. We propose that enduring artefacts associated with tool use, such as previously used tools, partly processed food items and residual material from previous activity, aid non-human primates to learn to use tools, and to develop expertise in their use, thus contributing to traditional technologies in non-humans. Therefore, social contributions to tool use can be considered as situated in the three dimensions of Euclidean space, and in the fourth dimension of time. This notion expands the contribution of social context to learning a skill beyond the immediate presence of a model nearby. We provide examples supporting this hypothesis from wild bearded capuchin monkeys and chimpanzees, and suggest avenues for future research.针对野生黑猩猩（chimpanzees）与卷尾猴（capuchin monkeys）的习惯性工具使用行为的所有已调研案例均显示，其幼年个体常会接触到耐用人工制品（artefacts），且这类接触大多发生在具有支持性的社会情境中。我们提出，与工具使用相关的耐用人工制品——例如曾被使用过的工具、部分加工的食物以及先前活动遗留的物料——可助力非人灵长类（non-human primates）学习工具使用技能，并精进其操作熟练度，进而推动非人动物传统技术的发展。据此，工具使用过程中的社会因素助力作用可被认为存在于欧几里得空间（Euclidean space）的三维维度与时间的第四维度之中。该观点将社会情境对技能学习的促进范畴拓展至远超“仅需附近存在示范个体”的范围。我们从野生鬃毛卷尾猴（bearded capuchin monkeys）与黑猩猩群体中获取了支撑该假说的实证案例，并提出了未来的研究方向。