How did people talk in the Stone Age? Tsubamé, 8 years old, London, United Kingdom*.

*Curious Kids is The Conversation series where experts answer children’s questions about the world.

The Stone Age refers to a time in the distant past. It started about 3 million years ago and lasted until about 40,000 years ago.

It is so called because at that time our distant ancestors made their tools from stone.

Humans like us, the species Homo sapiens, appeared long after the beginning of the Stone Age, only about 200,000 years ago.

The Stone Age began when various species of apes began to make simple tools by cutting sharp pieces of stone from larger pieces of rock.

These monkeys stand half upright when they walk, and that means their hands are free to do things, like make tools.

This first upright ape they have cerebellum, unlike chimpanzee brains, and they don’t talk.

Other upright walking apes appeared later in the Stone Age. They have been given names such as Homo habilis (“workman” man) or Homo erectus (upright man).

This species lived in Africa about 1 to 2 million years ago, long before humans like us existed.

They had larger brains than the earliest upright apes, but their brains were still smaller than ours. They are not as smart as us and they don’t talk, even if they make a sound.

About 400,000 years ago, three species with much larger brains than the earliest upright apes lived around the same time. This is called Neanderthals, Denisovans and one early form of the species Homo sapiens: our ancestors.

Neanderthals and Denisovans lived outside Africa in the part of the world known as Eurasia, including Europe.

Little is known about the Denisovans, but about 100,000 years ago, Neanderthals had wooden spear and some equipment simple made with animal bones like a deer, except the tool is made of stone.

Some people think that because of their large brains and their ability to make tools other than stone, Neanderthals could talk. But this is just a guess. The last Neanderthals died about 40,000 years ago.

People like us

The first humans lived in Africa. About 200,000 years ago, early Homo sapiens had evolved into what we now call modern humans.

These modern humans are just as smart as we are today, and they can speak the language like we do today. “Homo sapiens” means “wise man”.

Then in the Stone Age, about 60,000 years ago, people traveled out of Africa and eventually spread around the world.

At first, even our Homo sapiens ancestors only made tools out of stone, but having the ability to speak, they probably used their language to teach each other (their knowledge).

Over time, they learned to make various types of tools with stone, wood, bone, and leather.

They have clothing, shoes and shelter, and they hunt together for food. 40,000 years ago, and maybe even earlier, modern humans they draw on the cave wall.

There would have been far fewer distinct languages ​​in the Stone Age than there are today. But the existing language will be like our modern language.

People will talk sentences with nouns and verbs, although the words they use will be different, such as, say, Japanese words are different from English or French words.

Different language

language will be different between tribes. People may find it difficult to talk to people from other tribes, just like when we go on vacation to other countries, sometimes we find it difficult to understand the language.

Languages ​​would have fewer words than we have today because they didn’t need words for things like televisions, cars, or computers.

But like us, modern humans 200,000 years ago would have counted a lot of things. They will have words for “mother” and “father” or “sister” and “brother”.

they will have names of animals and plants, they can make plans, say “please” and “thank you” and have each other’s names.

Early modern humans probably talked about many of the same things we talk about: what to eat, who their friends were.

Parents would talk about their children and children would play with each other, probably talking all the time as children do today. They will also sing a song among themselves.

They may be Stone Age people, but they are modern when it comes to speech.

*Mark Pagel is Professor of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Reading, UK.

*This article was published on The Conversation and reproduced here under a Creative Commons license. Click here to read the original version (in English).

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