In The Beginning Was The Vowel

According to new research humans were able to talk 300,000 years ago, albeit not in the way we do.

In a groundbreaking discovery at Spain's Atapuerca archaeological site, evidence suggests that around 300,000 years ago, Pre-Neanderthals possessed the ability to produce basic vowel sounds. A skull found in the site's Pit of Bones revealed an intermediate vocal capability between chimpanzees and modern humans. This marks the first fossil evidence of this vocal stage, shedding light on ancient communication.

The skull, named Atapuerca 5, belonged to the Homo heidelbergensis species, potentially a common ancestor of Neanderthals and humans. Despite being able to create simple vowel sounds like "aa," "ee," and "oo," their speech would have been slow and indistinct due to anatomical constraints.

Juan Luis Arsuaga, co-director of the Atapuerca excavations, highlights that this finding supports the idea of gradual human intellectual evolution. While their speech wasn't like modern communication, this discovery provides insights into our distant ancestors' vocal abilities.

Read more about how the human race developed language>>