Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalism) fascinates both researchers and the general public. They continue to be at the center of debates about the nature of the breed Homo (broad biological classification that includes humans and their relatives). Neanderthals are also vital to understanding the uniqueness or other aspects of our species. homo sapiens.
We shared a common ancestor with Neanderthals about 600,000 years ago. They flourished in Europe while we were in Africa, before dispersing many times throughout Eurasia. Neanderthals became extinct about 40,000 years ago. We populated the world and continue to thrive. It has been debated for a long time whether this different result is due to differences in language and thought.
But evidence points to significant differences between the brains of our species and the brains of the Neanderthals who preceded modern humans (sapiens) bringing out abstract and complex ideas through metaphor – the ability to compare two unrelated things. For this to happen, the brain architecture of our species had to diverge from that of Neanderthals.
Some experts interpret the skeletal and archaeological evidence as pointing to profound differences. Others believe there is neither. And some take the middle path.
It is not surprising that there is disagreement when trying to extract such intangibles from material remains such as bones and works of art. The evidence is fragmentary and uncertain, presenting us with a complex puzzle of how, when, and why language evolved. Fortunately, recent discoveries in archeology and other disciplines have added a few new pieces to this linguistic puzzle, resulting in a valid picture of the Neanderthal mind.
New anatomical evidence shows that Neanderthals had vocal tracts and auditory pathways that were not significantly different from ours; This suggests that, from an anatomical perspective, they are as capable of communicating through speech as we are. The discovery of Neanderthal genes in our own species points to multiple events of hybridization, implying effective communication and social relationships between species.
The discovery of Neanderthals’ wooden spears and the use of resins to make tools from separate components also strengthened our view of their technical skills. It is claimed that pendants made from bird claws and feathers are used as body ornaments, as well as geometric engravings on stone and bone, which are examples of symbolism.
Cave painters?
The most striking claim is that Neanderthals made art by painting with red pigment on cave walls in Spain. But many of these cave art claims remain problematic. The evidence for Neanderthal cave art is compromised by unresolved methodological issues and, in my view, is unlikely to be accurate.
Rapidly accumulating evidence for the presence of modern humans in Europe 40,000 years ago challenges the idea that Neanderthals made these geometric designs, or at least that they did so before the influence of symbol-using modern humans. A wooden spear, no matter how well crafted, is little more than a pointed stick, and there is no evidence of technological advancement throughout the entirety of Neanderthal existence.
While archaeological evidence remains controversial, insights from neuroscience and genetics present a compelling case for linguistic and cognitive differences between the two languages. H. neanderthalensis And sapiens.
3D digital reconstruction created by deforming the Neanderthal brain sapiens and placing it in a Neanderthal brain mold (endocast) indicates significant differences in structure. Neanderthals had a relatively large occipital lobe; It devoted more brain matter to visual processing and less to other tasks, such as language.
They also had a relatively small and differently shaped cerebellum. This subcortical structure, full of neurons, contributes to many tasks such as language processing, speech and fluency. The unique spherical shape of the modern human brain evolved after the first brain. homo sapiens It appeared 300,000 years ago.
Some of these development-related genetic mutations are related to neuron development and the connections of neurons in the brain. Authors of a comprehensive study covering all mutations known to be unique sapiens He concluded (as of 2019) that “a complex network of changes in cognition or learning occurred in the evolution of modern humans.”
iconic words
As such evidence accumulated, our understanding of language also changed. Three developments are particularly important. The first of these is the discovery, through brain scanning in 2016, that we store words, or more precisely, the concepts we associate with words, both in the brain hemispheres and in clusters or semantic groups of similar concepts in the brain. This is important because, as we will see, the way in which these clusters of ideas were or were not interconnected was likely different between the two periods. sapiens and Neanderthals.
The second is the recognition that iconic sounds (those that provide a sensory impression of what they represent) form an evolutionary bridge between the ape-like sounds of our common ancestor 6 million years ago and the first words spoken by Homo. I’m not sure what species this is.
Iconic words remain common in today’s languages, capturing the characteristics of sound, size, movement and texture of the concept the word represents. This contrasts with words that are only arbitrarily associated with what they refer to. For example, a dog can equally be called dog, chien or hund; None of these give a sensory impression of the animal.
Third, computer simulation models of language transmission between generations have shown that syntax—consistent rules for how words are ordered to produce meaning—can emerge spontaneously. The shift in emphasis from the genetic coding of syntax to its spontaneous emergence is that both H. sapiens Neanderthal language also included these rules.
main difference
While it is possible to put the puzzle pieces together in several different ways, my long struggle with multidisciplinary evidence has led to only one solution. It starts with iconic words spoken by ancient humans. Homo erectus about 1.6 million years ago.
As such words were passed down from generation to generation, arbitrary words and syntax rules emerged, leading to early Neanderthals and sapiens have equivalent linguistic and cognitive capacity.
However, as both types continued to evolve, they diverged. sapiens The brain developed its spherical form with neural networks that connect isolated semantic clusters of words. These remained isolated in the Neanderthal brain. So, by the way sapiens Although Neanderthals had equivalent capacities for iconic words and syntax, they appear to have differed in storing ideas in semantic clusters in the brain.
By connecting different clusters in the brain responsible for storing groups of concepts, our species gained the capacity to think and communicate using metaphors. This has allowed modern humans to draw a line between very different concepts and ideas.
This was probably the most important of our cognitive tools; It allowed us to create complex and abstract concepts. While iconic words and syntax are shared between them sapiens and metaphors like Neanderthals transformed the language, thought, and culture of our species and created a profound divide with Neanderthals. They became extinct while we populated the world and continued to thrive.
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Steven Mithen does not work for, consult, own shares in, or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond his academic duties.