Use of Containers

Certainty Style Key

Hover over keys for definitions:

True Likely Speculative

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Human Uniqueness Compared to "Great Apes":

Absolute Difference

MOCA Domain:

Behavior

MOCA Topic Authors:

Alyssa Crittenden

Margaret Schoeninger

The use of containers, either to store or transport objects or materials, is common among humans. Great apes have not been observed to use containers in the wild. In captivity, all four species of great apes have used containers, either spontaneously or as the result of task conditioning. The use of containers may be rooted in the evolution of food transport and the establishment of a home base among ancient hominids.

Related Topics:

Title	Certainty
Consumption of Aquatic Foods	Likely
Consumption of Underground Plant Foods	Likely
Home Base	Likely
Long-range Transport of Materials	True
Organized Gathering of Food	True
Tool Making	True

Timing

Timing of Appearance of the Difference in the Hominin Lineage.

For this entry assume that

the common ancestor of humans and old world monkeys was 25000 thousand (25 million) years ago
the common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees was 6000 thousand (6 million) years ago
the emergence of the genus Homo was 2000 thousand (2 million) years ago
the common ancestor of modern humans was 100 thousand years ago

Probable Appearance:

6000 Thousand Years

Definite Appearance:

2000 Thousand Years

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