Humans may have started talking much earlier than known

New research suggests that humans first started speaking in prehistory eight times earlier than previously thought

Humans developed a primitive language around 1.6 million years ago, probably in eastern or southern Africa, an analysis by British archaeologist Steven Mithen suggested.

The Independent quoted Steven Mithen, a professor of early prehistory at the University of Reading, saying: “Humanity’s development of the ability to speak was the key that made much of the later physical and cultural evolution possible. That’s why it is important to date the emergence of the earliest forms of language.”

Until recently, experts thought that humans started speaking only 200,000 years ago.

However, professor Mithen’s new research suggested that primitive human language may be at least eight times older.

Mithen’s analysis is based on a detailed examination of archaeological, paleo-anatomical, genetic, neurological and linguistic evidence.

All the evidence suggests that language was born between two and 1.5 million years ago as part of human evolution and other developments.

Associated with the increase in brain size was a reorganization of the brain’s internal structure, including the first appearance of the frontal lobe region, which is mainly associated with language production and comprehension.

Source: Newsroom