Neanderthals speak again after 30,000 years

GarzaUK · 04-26-08, 05:53 AM

This is so cool guys check it out! A Neanderthal speaking! Awesomeness. I'm giddy!

Quote:

LONDON (Reuters) - Neanderthals have spoken out for the first time in 30,000 years, with the help of scientists who have simulated their voices using fossil evidence and a computer synthesizer.

Robert McCarthy, an anthropologist at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, used new reconstructions of Neanderthal vocal tracts to work out how they would have sounded, NewScientist.com reported on Wednesday.

The conclusion is that Neanderthals spoke, but sounded rather different to us. Specifically, the ancient humans' lacked the "quantal vowel" sounds that underlie modern speech and which provide cues that help speakers understand one another.

By modeling the sounds that a Neanderthal larynx would have made, McCarthy's team engineered the sound of a Neanderthal saying "e." (To listen to McCarthy's simulation of a Neanderthal voice, visit: http://media.newscientist.com/data/i.../dn13672A1.wav).

In contrast to a modern human "e," the Neanderthal version lacks a quantal hallmark, which helps a listener distinguish the word "beat" from "bit," for instance. (To listen to a simulation of the modern human voice, visit: http://media.newscientist.com/data/i.../dn13672A2.wav)

McCarthy, who based his reconstructions on 50,000-year-old fossils from France, aims eventually to simulate an entire Neanderthal sentence.

Neanderthals were a dead-end offshoot of the human line who inhabited Europe and parts of west and central Asia. Researchers believe they survived in Europe until the arrival of modern humans about 30,000 years ago.

Neanderthals speak again after 30,000 years - Yahoo! News

Intransigent Atheist · 05-02-08, 12:45 PM

Thanks for the link. I liken this to those artists who reconstruct entire faces from a skull. Has anyone seen the reconstructions they have done with Neanderthal skulls?

GarzaUK · 05-05-08, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Intransigent Atheist

Thanks for the link. I liken this to those artists who reconstruct entire faces from a skull. Has anyone seen the reconstructions they have done with Neanderthal skulls?

Handsome Dog!!

Its strange how creationists always avoid these kinda posts isn't it?

Also new news in on Neanderthals.

Quote:

Neanderthals were separate species, new study finds

PARIS (AFP) - A new, simplified family tree of humanity has dealt a blow to those who contend that the enigmatic hominids known as Neanderthals intermingled with our forebears.

Neanderthals were a separate species to Homo sapiens, as anatomically modern humans are known, rather than offshoots of the same species, the new organigram published Sunday by the journal Nature declares.

The method, invented by evolutionary analysts in Argentina, marks a break with the conventional technique by which anthropologists chart the twists and turns of the human odyssey.

That technique typically divides the genus Homo into various classifications according to the shape of key facial features -- "flat-faced," "protruding-faced" and so on.

Neanderthals were separate species, new study finds - Yahoo! News