Neanderthals had the capacity to produce and hear human-like speech, new study finds.
Fundamental Research
The debate over the linguistic capabilities of Neanderthals, our closest ancestors who went extinct about 40 000 years ago, has been raging for decades. New research seems to have provided some form of resolution as to whether they possessed a similar form of communication.
Sophisticated spoken language by brutish cavemen?
According to findings published in the journal ‘Nature Ecology & Evolution’, our Neanderthal cousins could both hear and produce the speech sounds of modern humans. Research shows that Neanderthals had a similar capacity to modern humans to talk and hear. They could produce the sounds of human speech and had a hearing range necessary to process human speech.“Neandertals could have produced all the sounds in that frequency range, like we can,” co-author Rolf M. Quam, associate professor at Binghamton University in New York, told ‘CNN’. “There does not seem to be any difference in their ability to produce speech sounds. So they definitely could have said ‘hello’ or ‘ok’ if those utterances had any meaning for them.”An international team of researchers employed high-resolution CT scans to generate virtual 3D models of Neanderthals’ ear structures, including the canal, drum and bones. These models were then used to estimate the hearing abilities up to 5 kHz – the frequency range of modern human speech sounds. Results showed that Neanderthals and modern humans had similar bandwidths.
Did Neanderthals listen to the world much like us?
“We don’t know if they had a language, but at least they had all the anatomical parts needed to have the kind of speech that we have,” explained lead author Mercedes Conde-Valverde from Spain’s University of Alcalá in ‘New Scientist’. “It’s not that they had the same language, not English, not Spanish, nothing like this. But if we could hear them, we would recognise that they were humans.”“The results are solid and clearly show the Neandertals had the capacity to perceive and produce human speech,” Prof. Quam noted in ‘Phys.org’. “This is one of the very few current, ongoing research lines relying on fossil evidence to study the evolution of language, a notoriously tricky subject in anthropology.”The study also revealed another intriguing outcome. Neanderthals’ speech probably involved the use of more consonants. Until now, research into Neanderthal speech capacities concentrated on their ability to construct the main vowels in English spoken language. “For decades, one of the central questions in human evolutionary studies has been whether the human form of communication, spoken language, was also present in any other species of human ancestor, especially the Neandertals,” added co-author Juan Luis Arsuaga, professor of palaeontology at the Complutense University of Madrid. “These results are particularly gratifying,” stated co-author Ignacio Martínez, also from the University of Alcalá. “We believe, after more than a century of research into this question, that we have provided a conclusive answer to the question of Neandertal speech capacities.”
Keywords
Neanderthal, speech, human, sound, language, hear, hearing
FAQs
"There seems to be a convergence in hearing abilities between Neanderthals and hom*o sapiens and presumably language abilities as well," Rolf Quam, a paleoanthropologist at Binghamton University in New York and co-author of the study, told Live Science.
Could Neanderthals communicate with hom*o sapiens? ›
Research shows that Neanderthals had a similar capacity to modern humans to talk and hear. They could produce the sounds of human speech and had a hearing range necessary to process human speech. “Neandertals could have produced all the sounds in that frequency range, like we can,” co-author Rolf M.
What was the ability of Neanderthals to speak and hear? ›
In a major discovery, the researchers in a study have found that the Neanderthals had the capacity to both hear as well as produce speech sounds similar to those produced by modern humans.
How did Neanderthal man communicate? ›
Our cousins' ears were tuned to the frequencies used in human communication. Humans were thought to have spoken language unlike any other species on Earth. But now, scientists think another species of human, the Neanderthal, had the ability to hear and produce speech just like us.
Did hom*o sapiens and Neanderthals interact? ›
The biological species concept
Critics who disagree that H. neanderthalensis and H. sapiens are two separate species can now cite supporting evidence from recent genetic research. This indicates that the two interbred with each other when they met outside Africa about 55,000 years ago.
Did Neanderthals believe in God? ›
Ultimately, Neanderthal religion is speculative, and hard evidence for religious practice exists only amongst Upper Paleolithic H. s. sapiens.
Did hom*o sapiens really mate with Neanderthals? ›
In Europe, Asia and North Africa, interbreeding between Neanderthals and Denisovans with modern humans took place several times. The introgression events into modern humans are estimated to have happened about 47,000–65,000 years ago with Neanderthals and about 44,000–54,000 years ago with Denisovans.
Could Neanderthals breed with humans? ›
Neandertals and anatomically modern humans overlapped geographically for a period of over 30,000 years following human migration out of Africa. During this period, Neandertals and humans interbred, as evidenced by Neandertal portions of the genome carried by non-African individuals today.
Did Neanderthals and humans coexist? ›
Ancient DNA studies showed that our species and Neanderthals interbred (9) and, therefore, coexisted in some regions (10–12); nonetheless, in other areas of Europe, Neanderthals were quickly replaced by H. sapiens or even disappeared a few millennia before their arrival (13–15).
How intelligent was Neanderthal? ›
Despite their reputation as being primitive 'cavemen', Neanderthals were actually very intelligent and accomplished humans. These were no 'ape-men'. So it's unfair to them that the word Neanderthal is used as an insult today. The brain size of late Neanderthals ranged from at least 1,200cm3 to 1,750cm3.
The Bible tells us that Adam and Eve were created on the Sixth Day of creation. “Neanderthals” are not mentioned. And science tells us that “Neanderthals” lived from between 400,000 and 40,000 years ago. The Earth is, according to a literalist reading of the Bible, only around 6,000 years old.
What ethnic group has the most Neanderthal DNA? ›
All humans with ancestry from outside of Africa have a little bit of Neanderthal in them — about 2% of the genome, on average. But people with East Asian ancestry have between 8% and 24% more Neanderthal genes than people of European ancestry.
Did Neanderthals and humans fight? ›
This doesn't mean a human and a Neanderthal never clashed at some point. Before war, violent conflict came in the form of individual homicides. Neanderthal remains found at Shanidar Cave in present-day Iraq, for example, display the potential for interpersonal violence during the Paleolithic.
Could Neanderthals talk to hom*o sapiens? ›
This suggests that the Neanderthals would have been capable of some speech but probably not the complete range of sounds that modern humans produce. The hyoid bone is a small, U-shaped bone that attaches to the larynx at the top of the vocal tract.
Did Neanderthals eat humans? ›
Evidence from other sites supports this hypothesis that Neandertals practiced cannibalism, specifically during times when other food sources were scarce. Stone tools would have worked great at breaking arm and leg bones to get at highly nutritious marrow. But the markings on the skulls are not as easily explained.
What was the lifespan of a Neanderthal? ›
Key points. DNA methylation allows estimation of extinct animals' lifespans, including a 60-year life for woolly mammoths. Neanderthals had a natural lifespan of 37.8 years, reflecting early human survival limits.
Were Neanderthals as intelligent as hom*o sapiens? ›
20-Year Study Reveals: Neanderthals Were As Intelligent as hom*o sapiens.
Did hom*o sapiens and Neanderthals fight each other? ›
In Israel and Greece, archaic hom*o sapiens took ground only to fall back against Neanderthal counteroffensives, before a final offensive by modern hom*o sapiens, starting 125,000 years ago, eliminated them.
How much DNA do hom*o sapiens share with Neanderthals? ›
This information is generally reported as a percentage that suggests how much DNA an individual has inherited from these ancestors. The percentage of Neanderthal DNA in modern humans is zero or close to zero in people from African populations, and is about 1 to 2 percent in people of European or Asian background.
Could hom*o erectus talk? ›
Everett says that H. erectus would have been unable to make the same range of sounds as we do, not least because they lacked the version of a gene necessary for speech and language to develop – known as FOXP2 – found in modern humans and Neanderthals, although it is not clear whether Neanderthals had language.
