Not only this, but non-human social animals like whales and apes show locally unique and persistent technologies and adaptations that are usually called culture

Not only this, but non-human social animals like whales and apes show locally unique and persistent technologies and adaptations that are usually called culture by the people studying them, all without writing. Culture is certainly less enduring and more fragile without writing, but as long as knowledge can be transmitted from old to young by some means other than genetic encoding, it is also inevitable.