ANTHR 102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Parietal Art, Vocal Tract, Homo Sapiens
Document Summary
Possession of language is seen as definitive evidence of human status. Language is seen as a uniquely human feature and is intimately related to another unique human feature very large brain. Presence of language in fossil human ancestors: Archaeological (behavioral) inferences: rely on identifying some expression of symbolic behavior in the archaeological record as evidence for the presence of language. Clear evidence of abstract thought can be found in more recent time periods. Paleontological (biological) inferences: rely on attempting to identify in our fossil human ancestors the anatomical correlates of language capacity seen in modern humans. Rather than focusing on anatomical features related with vocal production, focus on human ear as receiver of auditory stimuli (humans hear better than other primates) We speak adapted to the way we hear. Humans have 2 derived mutations compared to chimps foxp2 genes (neanderthals also) Homo sapien: vocal tract of horizontal and vertical is 1:1 ratio.
