Cidersomerset
20th December 2013, 20:53
http://static.bbci.co.uk/frameworks/barlesque/2.58.1/desktop/3.5/img/blq-blocks_grey_alpha.png
20 December 2013 Last updated at 16:06
Neanderthals could speak like humans, study suggestsBy Melissa Hogenboom
Science reporter, BBC News
Reconstructed face of a Neanderthal hominid
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/63621000/jpg/_63621607_face_colouradjust.jpg
Neanderthals may have had complex language
Continue reading the main story
Related Stories
Mystery early human revealed in DNA
Leg bone gives up oldest human DNA
Ancient humans interbred with us
An analysis of a Neanderthal's hyoid bone - a horseshoe shaped structure in the neck -
suggests they had the ability to speak.Until now the strongest support came from a
1989 Neanderthal hyoid fossil, the same shape as those of humans.But computer
modelling of how it works has shown their hyoid bone was also used in a very similar
way.Writing in journal Plos One, the team says their work is "highly suggestive" of
complex speech in Neanderthals.
Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote
If Neanderthals also had language then they were truly human too”
End Quote
Prof Stephen Wroe
University of New South Wales
The hyoid bone is crucial for speaking as it supports the root of the tongue. In non-
human primates it is not placed in the right position to vocalise like humans.An
international team of researchers analysed a 1989 fossil Neanderthal throat bone using
3D x-ray imaging and mechanical modellingThis model allowed them to see how the
hyoid behaved in relation to the other surrounding bones.
Stephen Wroe from the University of New South Wales, Australia, said: "We would
argue that this is a very significant step forward. It shows that the Kebara 2 hyoid
doesn't just look like those of modern humans - it was used in a very similar way."
He told BBC News that it not only changed our understanding of Neanderthals, but also
of ourselves.
"Many would argue that our capacity for speech and language is among the most
fundamental of characteristics that makes us human. If Neanderthals also had language
then they were truly human too."
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71877000/jpg/_71877686_c0097632-neanderthal_skeleton,_kebara_cave,_israel-spl.jpg
Neanderthal remains found in the Kebara Cave in Israel 60,000 year-old Neanderthal
remains (replica pictured) also included a hyoid bone (not visible)
It was commonly believed that complex language did not evolve until about 100,000
years ago and that modern humans were the only ones capable of complex speech.
But that changed with the discovery of a Neanderthal hyoid bone in 1989. It was found
in the Kebara Cave in Israel and is very similar to our own, Much older hyoid fossils
have also recently been discovered, attributed to the human and Neanderthal relative
Homo heidelbergensis. They were found in Spain and are over 500,000 years old.
These have yet to be modelled but Prof Wroe said they were likely to be very similar to
those of modern humans and Neanderthals, so could bring back the origins of speech
still further.
He added that his work would not necessarily be accepted as proof that Neanderthals spoke.
"We were very careful not to suggest that we had proven anything beyond doubt - but I
do think it will help to convince a good number of specialists and tip the weight of
opinion."
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71875000/jpg/_71875402_c0165324-neanderthal_cranium_gibraltar_1_-spl.jpg
Neanderthal skull Neanderthals had large faces with massive brow ridges and no chin
Neanderthals were stockier and shorter than humans, with no chin and backwards
sloping foreheads. They are not regarded as direct human ancestors but DNA analysis
has revealed that between 1% and 4% of the Eurasian human genome seems to come
from Neanderthals.
Dan Dediu, from the Max Plank Institute for Psycholinguistics, Netherlands, published a
review article earlier this year suggesting that Neanderthals and modern humans shared
a similar capacity for language.He said that the current study brought more weight to
the conclusions that Neanderthals had very similar hyoid bones to us, "not only in form
but also in what concerns their mechanical properties".
"The authors themselves are understandably cautious in drawing strong conclusions but
I think that their work clearly supports the contention that speech and language is an
old feature of our lineage going back at least to the last common ancestor that we
shared with the Neanderthals." Dr Dediu told BBC News.But he added that this work
was only a first step and that future studies of other living primates were necessary to
better understand the range of variation within modern humans.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25465102
20 December 2013 Last updated at 16:06
Neanderthals could speak like humans, study suggestsBy Melissa Hogenboom
Science reporter, BBC News
Reconstructed face of a Neanderthal hominid
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/63621000/jpg/_63621607_face_colouradjust.jpg
Neanderthals may have had complex language
Continue reading the main story
Related Stories
Mystery early human revealed in DNA
Leg bone gives up oldest human DNA
Ancient humans interbred with us
An analysis of a Neanderthal's hyoid bone - a horseshoe shaped structure in the neck -
suggests they had the ability to speak.Until now the strongest support came from a
1989 Neanderthal hyoid fossil, the same shape as those of humans.But computer
modelling of how it works has shown their hyoid bone was also used in a very similar
way.Writing in journal Plos One, the team says their work is "highly suggestive" of
complex speech in Neanderthals.
Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote
If Neanderthals also had language then they were truly human too”
End Quote
Prof Stephen Wroe
University of New South Wales
The hyoid bone is crucial for speaking as it supports the root of the tongue. In non-
human primates it is not placed in the right position to vocalise like humans.An
international team of researchers analysed a 1989 fossil Neanderthal throat bone using
3D x-ray imaging and mechanical modellingThis model allowed them to see how the
hyoid behaved in relation to the other surrounding bones.
Stephen Wroe from the University of New South Wales, Australia, said: "We would
argue that this is a very significant step forward. It shows that the Kebara 2 hyoid
doesn't just look like those of modern humans - it was used in a very similar way."
He told BBC News that it not only changed our understanding of Neanderthals, but also
of ourselves.
"Many would argue that our capacity for speech and language is among the most
fundamental of characteristics that makes us human. If Neanderthals also had language
then they were truly human too."
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71877000/jpg/_71877686_c0097632-neanderthal_skeleton,_kebara_cave,_israel-spl.jpg
Neanderthal remains found in the Kebara Cave in Israel 60,000 year-old Neanderthal
remains (replica pictured) also included a hyoid bone (not visible)
It was commonly believed that complex language did not evolve until about 100,000
years ago and that modern humans were the only ones capable of complex speech.
But that changed with the discovery of a Neanderthal hyoid bone in 1989. It was found
in the Kebara Cave in Israel and is very similar to our own, Much older hyoid fossils
have also recently been discovered, attributed to the human and Neanderthal relative
Homo heidelbergensis. They were found in Spain and are over 500,000 years old.
These have yet to be modelled but Prof Wroe said they were likely to be very similar to
those of modern humans and Neanderthals, so could bring back the origins of speech
still further.
He added that his work would not necessarily be accepted as proof that Neanderthals spoke.
"We were very careful not to suggest that we had proven anything beyond doubt - but I
do think it will help to convince a good number of specialists and tip the weight of
opinion."
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71875000/jpg/_71875402_c0165324-neanderthal_cranium_gibraltar_1_-spl.jpg
Neanderthal skull Neanderthals had large faces with massive brow ridges and no chin
Neanderthals were stockier and shorter than humans, with no chin and backwards
sloping foreheads. They are not regarded as direct human ancestors but DNA analysis
has revealed that between 1% and 4% of the Eurasian human genome seems to come
from Neanderthals.
Dan Dediu, from the Max Plank Institute for Psycholinguistics, Netherlands, published a
review article earlier this year suggesting that Neanderthals and modern humans shared
a similar capacity for language.He said that the current study brought more weight to
the conclusions that Neanderthals had very similar hyoid bones to us, "not only in form
but also in what concerns their mechanical properties".
"The authors themselves are understandably cautious in drawing strong conclusions but
I think that their work clearly supports the contention that speech and language is an
old feature of our lineage going back at least to the last common ancestor that we
shared with the Neanderthals." Dr Dediu told BBC News.But he added that this work
was only a first step and that future studies of other living primates were necessary to
better understand the range of variation within modern humans.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25465102