I denne artikel vurderes spørgsmålet om, hvorvidt neandertalere havde sprog. Gennem de seneste års nye fossiler, arkæologiske fund og DNA-evidens er der kommet lys over neandertalernes anatomi og adfærd. Forfatteren konkluderer, at den overvejende evidens tyder på, at neandertalerne havde en form for talt protosprog med leksikale betydninger.
Titel på undersøgelse:
The Talking Neanderthals: What Do Fossils, Genetics, and Archaeology Say?
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Hele abstrakt på originalsprog:
Did Neanderthals have language? This issue has been debated back and forth for decades, without resolution. But in recent years new evidence has become available. New fossils and archeological finds cast light on relevant Neanderthal anatomy and behavior. New DNA evidence, both fossil and modern, provides clues both to the relationship between Neanderthals and modern humans, and to the genetics of language. In this paper, I review and evaluate the available evidence. My conclusion is that the preponderance of the evidence supports the presence of at least a spoken proto-language with lexical semantics in Neanderthals.