Study suggests Neanderthals possessed speech

by Ben Reilly Sun Dec 22, 2013 2:06 am

An analysis of a Neanderthal's fossilised hyoid bone - a horseshoe-shaped structure in the neck - suggests the species had the ability to speak.

This has been suspected since the 1989 discovery of a Neanderthal hyoid that looks just like a modern human's.

But now computer modelling of how it works has shown this bone was also used in a very similar way.

Writing in journal Plos One, scientists say its study is "highly suggestive" of complex speech in Neanderthals.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25465102

by ALLAKAKA Sun Dec 22, 2013 1:59 pm

Was the study carried out in LEWISHAM ?

by Guest Sun Dec 22, 2013 2:05 pm

You know, one day you will surprise us all and add something constructive to a thread.

by Vintage Sun Dec 22, 2013 2:26 pm

Is this a 'strictly no humour' site then?

by Guest Sun Dec 22, 2013 3:49 pm

I'm afraid that was humour, that was Kaka trying to infer that Catman was a Neanderthal.

by veya_victaous Sun Dec 22, 2013 10:09 pm

@sassy,
that counts as a joke

Back to the Article, I think it is quite probable lots of evidence now suggests that other Hominids were more advanced than previously suggested.

by Ben Reilly Mon Dec 23, 2013 6:03 am

I know it's been theorized well before now that Neanderthals spoke; it appears what's been confirmed is that they had the physical hardware to speak.

I even heard that the implication of Neanderthals speaking is that some of their words probably have survived and are spoken by us today. If that's the case ... um ... uh ... I can't think of what they'd be Smile

by Beekeeper Mon Dec 23, 2013 10:48 am

I WOULD have thought that anybody who had already read and/or seen the likes of "Quest for Fire", "Clan of the Cave Bear", "Ice Man" or "1,000,000 Years B.C." would already have known that Neanderthals could talk !!!

They wouldn't lie to us in those movies, would they ??

Y'all know it's all true. FACT !

farao

by Guest Sun Jan 05, 2014 3:53 pm

Ben_Reilly wrote:I know it's been theorized well before now that Neanderthals spoke; it appears what's been confirmed is that they had the physical hardware to speak.

I even heard that the implication of Neanderthals speaking is that some of their words probably have survived and are spoken by us today. If that's the case ... um ... uh ... I can't think of what they'd be

think Geordie...

by Original Quill Sun Jan 05, 2014 5:19 pm

Jeeze...just ask lil andy. Twisted Evil

by Guest Sun Jan 05, 2014 8:18 pm

why should they NOT have talked, they were apparantly artistic, and inventive, unfortunately not fast enough thinking to adapt to changing conditions and better hunting techniques by modern mans immediate ancestors....It would seem that a LOT of the so called "history" we of my ancient generation were taught at school was mumbo jumbo,

by veya_victaous Mon Jan 06, 2014 12:02 am

@grumpy

To be fair I think a lot of it is also climate
they were a hominid that adapted to the coldest climates inhabited in the ice age, we were better adapted to warmer environments, the Climate just happened to go our way.

Plus another suggestion is dogs. One of the major differences between us, is their superior sense of smell compared to our superior vision (based on enlarging of the cavity compared to Homo Erectus) so once we got dogs in our camps we now had our Superior vision and an 'Ally' with superior smell.

by Beekeeper Tue Jan 07, 2014 3:49 am

LET'S also not forget that recent chromosomal studies and re-classifications has placed Neanderthals as a more closely related sub-species of Homo sapiens, and not the separate-though-closely-related species that it was thought of only a couple of decades ago...

THERE is also some fossil evidence that some Neanderthals were cross-breeding with Cro-magnon Man (and maybe even as recently as 15,000 to 20,000 years ago, with some ragtag wondering residual tribes of Neanderthals still hanging-on past their "use-by dates" in some parts of hat is now Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Northern Africa..) ~ quite believable when one looks at not only the Geordies and the Gauls, but also some of those "Slavic" peoples of Eastern Europe and S.E. Russia.. Idea

I know that some people that went to the same schools as me, and even a couple of people that I have worked with at times, would be quite suitable as Neanderthals in any movies or documentaries !

by Sponsored content

Study suggests Neanderthals possessed speech

Study suggests Neanderthals possessed speech

Re: Study suggests Neanderthals possessed speech

Re: Study suggests Neanderthals possessed speech

Re: Study suggests Neanderthals possessed speech

Re: Study suggests Neanderthals possessed speech

Re: Study suggests Neanderthals possessed speech

Re: Study suggests Neanderthals possessed speech

Re: Study suggests Neanderthals possessed speech

Re: Study suggests Neanderthals possessed speech

Re: Study suggests Neanderthals possessed speech

Re: Study suggests Neanderthals possessed speech

Re: Study suggests Neanderthals possessed speech

Re: Study suggests Neanderthals possessed speech

Re: Study suggests Neanderthals possessed speech