DISAMPING KANAN INI.............
PLEASE USE ........ "TRANSLATE MACHINE" .. GOOGLE TRANSLATE BESIDE RIGHT THIS
.......................
Talking
Neanderthals challenge the origins of speech
Talking
Neanderthals challenge the origins of speech
Date:
March 2,
2014
Source:
University of New England
Summary:
We humans like to think of ourselves as unique for
many reasons, not least of which being our ability to communicate with words.
But ground-breaking research shows that our 'misunderstood cousins,' the
Neanderthals, may well have spoken in languages not dissimilar to the ones we
use today.
..............................
We humans
like to think of ourselves as unique for many reasons, not least of which being
our ability to communicate with words. But ground-breaking research by an
expert from the University of New England shows that our 'misunderstood
cousins,' the Neanderthals, may well have spoken in languages not dissimilar to
the ones we use today.
Pinpointing
the origin and evolution of speech and human language is one of the longest
running and most hotly debated topics in the scientific world. It has long been
believed that other beings, including the Neanderthals with whom our ancestors
shared Earth for thousands of years, simply lacked the necessary cognitive
capacity and vocal hardware for speech.
Associate
Professor Stephen Wroe, a zoologist and palaeontologist from UNE, along with an
international team of scientists and the use of 3D x-ray imaging technology,
made the revolutionary discovery challenging this notion based on a 60,000
year-old Neanderthal hyoid bone discovered in Israel in 1989.
"To
many, the Neanderthal hyoid discovered was surprising because its shape was
very different to that of our closest living relatives, the chimpanzee and the
bonobo. However, it was virtually indistinguishable from that of our own
species. This led to some people arguing that this Neanderthal could
speak," A/Professor Wroe said.
"The
obvious counterargument to this assertion was that the fact that hyoids of
Neanderthals were the same shape as modern humans doesn't necessarily mean that
they were used in the same way. With the technology of the time, it was hard to
verify the argument one way or the other."
However
advances in 3D imaging and computer modelling allowed A/Professor Wroe's team
to revisit the question.
"By
analysing the mechanical behaviour of the fossilised bone with micro x-ray
imaging, we were able to build models of the hyoid that included the intricate
internal structure of the bone. We then compared them to models of modern
humans. Our comparisons showed that in terms of mechanical behaviour, the
Neanderthal hyoid was basically indistinguishable from our own, strongly
suggesting that this key part of the vocal tract was used in the same way.
"From
this research, we can conclude that it's likely that the origins of speech and
language are far, far older than once thought."
Story
Source:
The above
story is based on materials provided by University of New England. Note: Materials may be
edited for content and length.
Journal
Reference:
- Ruggero D’Anastasio, Stephen Wroe, Claudio Tuniz, Lucia Mancini, Deneb T. Cesana, Diego Dreossi, Mayoorendra Ravichandiran, Marie Attard, William C. H. Parr, Anne Agur, Luigi Capasso. Micro-Biomechanics of the Kebara 2 Hyoid and Its Implications for Speech in Neanderthals. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (12): e82261 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0082261