How did our archaic cousins communicate with each other? The results of a modeling of their hearing system suggest that the Neanderthals were similarly gifted in language as we are. Comparable to ours, this was possibly set specifically to the perception of typical speech frequencies. As a result, the hearing of the Neanderthals differed from that of their ancestors and older human forms, the researchers report.
They were long considered club-wielding primitives who might utter some simple grunt. So it didn’t seem surprising that our clever ancestors were able to quickly oust them from Europe. But this picture no longer corresponds to the state of research. It is becoming increasingly clear that the Neanderthals were more similar to modern humans than long assumed. For example, there is evidence that they were skilled toolmakers, adorned themselves, buried their dead, and possibly even created cave art. Last but not least, genetic studies have shown that our ancestors mingled with some of their archaic cousins. Why the Neanderthals were inferior in the long term is still unclear. One aspect could have been a lower ability to communicate.
Were Neanderthals gifted with languages?
“For decades, one of the central questions in human evolutionary research has been whether our form of communication, the spoken language, was also present with other representatives of our family tree – especially with the Neanderthals,” says Juan Luis Arsuaga from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. What archaic human forms once uttered has of course long since faded away. But by examining anatomical features, at least indirect indications of the ability to communicate on sounds are possible. Previous studies have already shown that early hominins had comparatively poor anatomical prerequisites for complex hearing and articulation skills in connection with language.
As part of their study, Arsuaga and his colleagues have now reconstructed in detail how the Neanderthals heard in order to gain clues about their potential for sound communication. The study is based on high-resolution CT scans of the hearing system. The researchers used it to create virtual 3D models of the ear structures of Homo sapiens and Neanderthals as well as fossils from the Spanish site of Atapuerca. The finds there are remains that are assigned to the ancestors of the Neanderthals. The data obtained from the 3D models were then transferred to a computer model that was developed in the field of auditory bioengineering. It enables conclusions to be drawn about the transmission of sound power through the outer and middle ear as well as the bandwidth of frequency perception – and thus about the hearing patterns.
Hearing system tailored to speech
The comparison of the results showed: The hearing ability of the Neanderthals was similar to that of modern humans and showed a comparable range. They also had an increased sensitivity between 3.5 to 5 kilohertz – a frequency range that contains acoustic information that is primarily related to the consonants in human speech. This could have been related to a communication system: This hearing ability enabled the perception of a large number of clearly distinguishable acoustic signals for oral communication, say the researchers. “The presence of similar hearing abilities, especially the bandwidth, is an indication that the Neanderthals had a communication system that was just as complex and efficient as the language of modern humans,” says lead author Mercedes Conde-Valverde of the Universidad de Alcalá in Madrid.
Parallel evolution?
Interestingly, the similarity to our hearing system in the ancestors of the Neanderthals from the Atapuerca site was not so pronounced, according to the analyzes. This is therefore an indication that in the course of the development to Neanderthal there has been an adjustment of the hearing system, which may have been accompanied by an improvement in language skills. As the researchers explain, there could have been a parallel optimization in the evolutionary history of Neanderthals and modern humans. It is assumed that both forms of humans go back to common ancestors who, after the population split in Africa and Europe, evolved into the two different types of humans.
In conclusion, however, the researchers emphasize that the study can only provide indirect information about the language skills of the Neanderthals. The existence of anatomical “hardware” for speech perception does not necessarily imply the existence of the same mental “software” as in modern humans, they point out. But in the context of the growing archaeological evidence of the complex skills and symbolic behaviors of our cousins, the results now make it very plausible that they possessed a complex language. However, it will probably forever be left to the imagination how it might have sounded.
Source: Binghamton University, Nature Ecology & Evolution, doi: 10.1038 / s41559-021-01391-6