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Speech, stone tool-making and the evolution of language.

Dana Michelle Cataldo1, Andrea Bamberg Migliano1, Lucio Vinicius1

  • 1Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.

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Gesture, not speech, was likely the primary communication method for early hominin stone tool making. Studies show speech alone is less effective for teaching tool-making skills compared to gesture or full communication.

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary anthropology
  • Cognitive science
  • Archaeology

Background:

  • The technological hypothesis suggests early hominin gestural language facilitated stone tool-making transmission, with speech evolving later.
  • Previous research has not empirically tested the efficacy of speech alone for teaching lithic technology.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of speech versus gesture in the cultural transmission of stone tool-making skills.
  • To evaluate the effectiveness of different communication modalities in teaching flintknapping.

Main Methods:

  • Experimental study comparing stone tool-making performance and participant satisfaction across three instruction groups: speech alone, gesture alone, and full language (speech plus gesture).

Main Results:

  • Subjects instructed by speech alone demonstrated lower performance in stone tool-making compared to those taught by gesture alone or full language.
  • Instruction via speech alone also resulted in lower reported satisfaction with the teaching method.

Conclusions:

  • Gesture appears to be a more effective teaching aid than speech for early hominin tool-making.
  • Speech may not have replaced gesture for tool-making instruction in later hominins, potentially explaining the continued use of gesture in modern human language.
  • The findings challenge the technological hypothesis, suggesting speech may have evolved for reasons other than tool-making transmission.