A Middle Palaeolithic human hyoid bone

@article{Arensburg1989AMP,
  title={A Middle Palaeolithic human hyoid bone},
  author={Baruch Arensburg and Annie Tillier and Bernard Vandermeersch and Henri Duday and Lynne A Schepartz and Yoel Rak},
  journal={Nature},
  year={1989},
  volume={338},
  pages={758-760}
}
THE origin of human language, and in particular the question of whether or not Neanderthal man was capable of language/speech, is of major interest to anthropologists but remains an area of great controversy1, 2. Despite palaeoneurological evidence to the contrary3, 4, many researchers hold to the view that Neanderthals were incapable of language/speech, basing their arguments largely on studies of laryngeal/basicranial morphology1, 5, 6. Studies, however, have been hampered by the absence of… Expand
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229 Citations

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The results presented here show that the degree of metric and anatomical variation in the fossil sample was similar in magnitude and kind to living humans. Expand
The descended larynx is not uniquely human
  • W. Tecumseh Fitch, D. Reby
  • Biology, Medicine
  • Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences
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It is shown that the Neanderthal and modern human hyoids also present very similar internal architectures and micro-biomechanical behaviours, consistent with a capacity for speech in the Neanderthals. Expand
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