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The ability of Neanderthals to perceive human speech has been proven
Anthropologists have found out that the hearing aid of Neanderthals was the same as that of modern humans and they could perceive and reproduce human speech, and also most likely had the ability to communicate through sounds. The results of the study are published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution (Conde-Valverde et al., Neanderthals and Homo sapiens had similar auditory and speech capacities).
One of the main questions in human evolutionary research is when speech appeared as a form of human communication and whether it was characteristic of other species other than Homo sapiens, for example, Neanderthals.
Researchers from Spain, USA and The UK, based on high–resolution computed tomography data, created virtual three-dimensional models of the structures of the inner ear of Homo Sapiens, Neanderthals and earlier hominins - the ancestors of Neanderthals who lived in the Pleistocene in the Atapuerca region in Spain.
The authors introduced the data of 3D constructions into the bioengineering model and calculated for each of the three types the frequency range of maximum sensitivity - the bandwidth. It is known that a wider bandwidth allows for the use of a greater number of distinguishable acoustic signals during oral communication.
The results showed that Neanderthals had a wider transmission range compared to their ancestors from Atapuerca. Best of all, according to scientists, Neanderthals, as well as modern people, heard in the range of 4-5 kilohertz. Hence, the authors conclude that Neanderthals easily perceived the speech of Homo sapiens and could well imitate it, and, perhaps, had their own speech.
3D reconstruction of the inner ear of modern man and Neanderthal
"The presence of similar auditory abilities demonstrates that Neanderthals possessed a communication system as complex and effective as modern human speech," the press release says. The words of the head of the study Mercedes Conde-Valverde (Mercedes Conde-Valverde), professor of anthropology from the University of Alcala in Spain.
Scientists reconstructed the range of sounds that Neanderthals could hear and probably make, and found that, unlike more ancient hominins, Neanderthals could hear the same range of sounds as modern humans, and their hearing was optimized for the perception of consonants.
"One of the interesting results of the study was the assumption that there were many consonants in the speech of Neanderthals," says Rolf Quam, another author of the study, professor of anthropology at Binghamton University. – Using consonants is a way to include more information in the voice signal. This feature distinguishes human speech from the communication patterns of other primates."
The authors note that the presence of an anatomical apparatus necessary for the perception of speech does not necessarily mean its presence. For the latter, you still need "software" at the level of higher nervous activity. But, most likely, the speech of Neanderthals appeared at a certain stage of evolution, scientists believe. This is consistent with archaeological evidence of increasingly complex behaviors, including changes in stone tool manufacturing technology, the use of fire, and various symbolic practices compared to older hominins.
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