It ’s well-fixed to think that Neanderthals were dumb fauna , incompetent ofcomplex speechlike us . But it turns out that a Neanderthal ’s os hyoideum — a small-scale bone in the neck that supports the tongueand is all important for voice communication — cultivate in a very exchangeable way of life to your own hyoid . Does this have in mind they could talk like ( and with ! ) humans ?
https://gizmodo.com/want-to-hear-a-neanderthal-say-the-letter-e-510219156
For a long metre , scientists believed that modern humans werethe only primates that had the capacity for complex oral communication . Reason being : Our unique horseshoe - regulate os hyoideum bone , which is the anatomical foundation of speech andsomething no other fauna has . Indeed , other non - human primates have their ownversion of the os hyoideum , but only our bone is in the right place to lick withthe voice box and tongue that allow for true speech communication .

But this human - centric belief all changed almost 25 years ago . In 1989 , scientistsdiscovered aNeanderthal hyoid bone osseous tissue that looked outstandingly like our own . What’smore , complex speech is often think to be necessary for the development ofculture , because it allows somebody to share ideas — 50,000 to 100,000years ago , around the metre that complex lyric was think to have evolved inhumans , Neanderthals wereburying their dead , which is indicative of religionor thinking about the afterlife .
https://gizmodo.com/yes-neanderthals-did-bury-their-dead-1484417899
The evidence evoke that Neanderthals could speak , butnobody really knew if their hyoid actually worked like our own . So scientistsdecided to get out . BBC excuse :

An external squad of researchers analysed a fossilNeanderthal pharynx bone using 3D x - ray tomography and mechanically skillful modeling .
This model allowed the group to see how the hyoid behaved inrelation to the other surround bones .
Stephen Wroe , from the University of New England , Armidale , NSW , Australia , say : “ We would indicate that this is a very pregnant stepforward . It evince that the Kebara 2 hyoid does n’t just look like those ofmodern humans – it was used in a very like manner . ”

Of course , shew that Neanderthal ’s hyoid worked like oursdoes is n’t determinate proof that they could speak like humans , but it is highlysuggestive of it , the researchers note .
However , other scientists certainly think complex languagein Neanderthals is n’t so far fetched . In areviewarticlepublished earlier this year , two researchers from the Max PlanckInstitute for Psycholinguistics in the Netherlands argue that advanced language and speech actuallygo back to the most recent antecedent we apportion with Neanderthals andDenisovians(another humanoid species that co - existed with Neanderthals and early human race ) . Thiswould intend that complex language did n’t develop 100,000 years ago , but half a million yearsago .
https://gizmodo.com/another-humanoid-species-co-existed-with-early-humans-a-5715516

see out the new studyin the journalPLOSONE , or read more at theBBC .
double courtesy ofNASA / JPL - Caltech .
ArchaeologyneanderthalsSpeech

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