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Related Experiment Videos

A Middle Palaeolithic human hyoid bone.

B Arensburg1, A M Tillier, B Vandermeersch

  • 1Department of Anatomy and Anthropology, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Israel.

Nature
|April 27, 1989
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Neanderthals likely possessed the physical capacity for speech. A 60,000-year-old hyoid bone from Israel closely resembles modern human hyoid bones, suggesting speech capabilities evolved early.

Area of Science:

  • Paleoanthropology
  • Human Evolution
  • Linguistics

Background:

  • The capacity for language in Neanderthals is a contentious topic in anthropology.
  • Previous research focused on laryngeal and basicranial morphology, often yielding inconclusive results due to limited fossil evidence.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the potential for Neanderthal speech capabilities.
  • To provide new fossil evidence regarding the evolution of the speech apparatus.

Main Methods:

  • Excavation of Middle Palaeolithic layers at Kebara Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel.
  • Analysis of a well-preserved human hyoid bone dating to approximately 60,000 years Before Present (BP).
  • Comparative morphological analysis of the fossil hyoid bone with modern human hyoid bones.

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Main Results:

  • A human hyoid bone, nearly identical in size and shape to those of present-day humans, was discovered.
  • This finding suggests significant stability in the visceral skeleton, including the hyoid and inferred larynx, over the past 60,000 years.

Conclusions:

  • The morphological prerequisites for human speech appear to have been established by the Middle Palaeolithic era.
  • This evidence challenges previous assumptions about Neanderthal speech limitations based solely on morphology.