Protoculture

In physical anthropology, protoculture is the passing of behaviours from one generation to another among non-human primates.

For example, tool usage is learned between generations within chimpanzee troops. One troop of chimpanzees may exhibit a learned behavior unique from another troop of chimpanzees, such as various tool usage. Some chimpanzee troops have been observed consuming aspilia,¹ for medicinal purposes, because it has been seen to remove intestinal parasites, and is otherwise unpalatable.