It has always been believed that humans speak a language that is different from any other type on Earth, but scientists now think that another type of human, Neanderthals, an ancient human species, had the ability to hear and produce speech just like us.
Professor Juan Luis Arsuaga from the Complutense University in Madrid, Spain, stated, "For decades, one of the central questions in human evolutionary studies has been whether the human form of communication, spoken language, was also present in any other types of ancient human ancestors, especially Neanderthals." An international team of researchers studied the auditory capabilities of Neanderthals, modern humans, and Neanderthal ancestors from the archaeological site of Atapuerca. Using high-resolution computed tomography, they created 3D virtual models of the ear structures for each type of ancient and modern humans, and used this data to model the frequencies that each species could hear better.
Although the human ear can hear sounds between frequencies of 20 Hz and 20 kHz, the majority of human speech sounds fall within a total of 5 kHz. Neanderthals exhibited a greater sensitivity in the frequency range of 4-5 kHz compared to their ancestors at the Atapuerca site, similar to that of modern humans. The researchers also looked into the "occupied bandwidth" for each type, which refers to the frequency range that the ear is most sensitive to. A broader occupied bandwidth means that the species can distinguish a wider range of sounds, thereby communicating more effectively. The occupied bandwidth of Neanderthals was broader than that of their ancestors and was very similar to modern humans.
Thus, the fact that Neanderthals could hear frequencies similar to those found in human speech today, which their ancestors at the Atapuerca site did not develop, indicates they may have had the ability to produce speech and verbal communication as well. Professor Mercedes Conde-Valverde from the University of Alcalá in Spain stated, "The presence of similar auditory capabilities, particularly in relation to bandwidth, indicates that ancient Neanderthals had a complex and effective communication system similar to that of modern humans for producing speech." Additionally, researchers believe that Neanderthals may have had some form of language, although this does not necessarily mean they possessed the cognitive abilities to speak the same language as ancient humans did.
