The Science of Human Origins by Claudio Tuniz Giorgio Manzi David Caramelli

Author:Claudio Tuniz, Giorgio Manzi, David Caramelli [Claudio Tuniz, Giorgio Manzi, David Caramelli]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Anthropology, General
ISBN: 9781315417233
Google: iqEYDQAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2016-09-17T06:03:40+00:00

Otolaryngology of Extinct Species

Speech and auditory systems have been a subject of high interest for scholars of human evolution. Some small bones belonging to these systems can be preserved in the fossil record, allowing their direct study.

In particular, the hyoid bone plays a critical role in phonation and in the development of our articulated language. This small, horseshoe-shaped bone is located on the anterior midline of the neck, between the larynx and the mandible. Although it is not directly articulated with any other bone, the hyoid is connected through a range of muscles and ligaments to the tongue, the jaw, the larynx, the base of the skull, and the sternum.

Before discussing the study of the hyoid, let’s summarize the main approaches followed to understand the origin of complex language. According to some views, language evolved to organize social activities that required coordination between several individuals, such as hunting large animals, competing with other human groups, or seafaring. Others believe that the evolution of phonation can be deduced from the morphology of the skull base—for example, from the size of the hypoglossal canal, which allows us to deduce the size and structure of the vocal tract, or from specific structures of the cerebral cortex related to language, such as the Broca area. Other opportunities are offered by paleogenetics, such as in the study of FOXP2, the gene related to linguistic capabilities, which will be discussed below. Finally, according to other perspectives, language could be related to the evidence of cultural developments such as the production of complex stone tools and the first manifestations of conscious thought and symbolism.

Although the mechanisms and structures used for voice production are similar in humans and other primates, our vocal tract is characterized by various morphological differences, including the structure and microstructure of the hyoid. Its position in the vocal system was reconstructed in the early 1970s in the Neanderthal skeleton from La Chapelle aux Saints by estimating the structure of the muscles that were attached to the skull base and to the inner part of the mandibular symphysis. These preliminary reports determined that the hyoid, hence the larynx, was located in the upper part of the throat in the Neanderthals, much like a newborn modern human or a chimpanzee, thus reducing the resonant space available for phonation. Initially, computer simulations suggested that our extinct cousins were using fewer vowels than H. sapiens, with more communication difficulties, but other studies show they had the same number of vowels as modern humans. Although the nature and origin of our peculiar linguistic faculty remains still open and controversial, recent studies claim that modern language developed 500 KYA and was already used by the common ancestor of modern humans and Neanderthals. This implies a slow incremental process of both genetic and cultural evolution. Does our language bear traces of the language spoken by the Neanderthals (or other human species)?

In the last few years, hyoid bones from different species, including A. afarensis, H. heidelbergensis, and H. neanderthalensis, have been discovered. Their study could provide direct information on the evolution of complex language.

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