Exploring Language in Humans (Part Four)

"The fit between the brain and the bony braincase is loose in people and other large animals, and so the impressions we derive from fossil skulls are disappointingly fuzzy. Moreover, we know now that language functions are not tightly localized but spread across many parts of the brain" (Cartmill, 1998).

Hence, it is nearly impossible to determine if an extinct species was able to facilitate complex language from endocranial casts alone. In response, paleoanthropologists have turned their intensive gaze toward such things as vocal tracts, spinal cords, cranial bases, hyoids, and hypoglossal canals. Still, some of the linguistic community maintain that "language didn't evolve at all, but just sprang into existence by accident, through some glorious, random mutation" (Cartmill, 1998). Now, either these linguists are right - and there are no intermediate stages for language - or they have used mutation toward a very unscientific end to wrap around their theories. In either case, the evolution of language remains inconclusive.

To conclude, we now turn to Homo erectus:

"Homo erectus evolved nearly 2 mya in Africa, possibly from an earlier species, H.ergaster, and by perhaps 1.8 mya had spread as far as Java. By 500,000 ya, they had reached China and Europe. They lasted as an identifiable group in Africa and China until 250,000 ya and may have persisted in Java until less than 100,000 ya" (Park, 2008).

Eugene Dubois (1858-1940), a Dutch anatomist and physician who was captivated by the idea of human origins, is credited with the first fossil find of Homo erectus. Aptly named "Java Man," in tribute to the location of its discovery, the skullcap Dubois uncovered offered an estimated cranial capacity of approximately 940 ml, which is "just slightly under the modern human minimum" (Park, 2008). The brain sizes of Homo erectus can vary from 600 - 1,170 ml. Modern, human brain sizes generally average at about 1,450 ml, but there have been cases that fall well below or above this mark. Following the discovery of "Java Man" by Dubois, the major finds of Homo erectus have occurred in the following areas. The approximate ages of these finds are correlated to each location and set in parenthesis: Algeria (.5 - .7mya), China (.25 - .62 mya), Ethiopia (1 mya), Georgia (1.75 mya), Israel (1 mya), Italy (.8 - .9 mya), Java (1.8 - 1mya), Kenya (.9 - 1.55 mya), Morocco (.4 - .5 mya), and Tanzania (1.4 - .6 mya). In the constantly shifting climate of the Pleistocene, Homo erectus was the first hominin species to venture out of Africa.(1) They possessed the ability to fashion tools, which, in due course, became the Acheulian technique:

"The link between biology and behavior is therefore very close: simple tools were made by the earliest Homo; a jump in complexity occurred with the evolution of Homo erectus. That link is seen again with the appearance of archaic sapiens, some time after half a million years ago" (Leakey, 1994).

They were also able to manipulate fire:

"Fire, of course, provides heat, and so it is not surprising that some of the earliest evidence of fire comes from cold northern areas. Fire also provides protection from animals and can be used for cooking, making meat easier to digest. Moreover, the use of fire may well have given people a psychological advantage - a sense of mastery and control over the force of nature - and a source of energy" (Park, 2008).

In regard to the language capabilities of Homo erectus, there are two crucial factors to take into account: 1) The appearance of the Acheulian tool industry can, in many ways, offer some speculative analysis towards the ability to facilitate language. Such an industry requires a standardized set of rules. Not unlike artistic expression, "the making of images to resemble things can only have emerged prehistorically in communities with shared systems of meaning" (Davidson & Noble, 1998). And, although this may say very little about the origin of language (again, non-lithic tools are not imprinted on the archaeological record), it does say a great deal about the communicative abilities of a species that chose to involve itself in tool manufacture. 2) Brain size is but one factor in language ability. "Of equal, if not more importance, are other phenotypic windows on the brain such as its organization (meaning the quantitative relationships among its parts) and its hierarchal development" (Holloway, 1981). As has been clearly shown in this article, the cognitive functions that facilitate language are deeply intertwined. There is no set region in the human brain that controls language. It is a multifarious process involving a vast array of both cognitive and motor functions. In terms of H. erectus brain morphology, it appears "the brains of H. erectus were asymmetrical - the right and left halves of the brain weren't the same shape" (Park, 2008). This suggests localization and lateralization - perhaps to a greater degree than our primate cousins. Additionally, "Homo erectus had vocal tracts more like those of modern humans, positioned lower in the throat and allowing for a greater range and speed of sound production" (Park, 2008). It is highly unlikely H. erectus did not have language, at least a rudimentary form of it.

(1) "The Longgupo teeth are said to bear more resemblance to early Pleistocene hominins from East Africa such as H. habilis and H. ergaster than to Asian H. erectus, leaving open the possibility that a pre-erectus hominin may have entered Asia before 2 mya" (Conroy, 2005).

References

Cartmill, M. (1998, November). The Gift of Gab. Discover, 56, 58, 62-64.

Conroy, G. (2005). Reconstructing Human Origins. New York: Norton.

Davidson, I., & Noble, W. (1989). The Archaeology of Depiction and Language. Current Anthropology, 30, 125-126.

Holloway, R. (1981). Culture, Symbols, and Human Brain Evolution: A Synthesis. Dialectical Anthropology, 5, 287-303.

Leakey, R. (1994). The Origin of Humankind. New York: Basic.

Park, M. (2008). Biological Anthropology. New York: McGraw-Hill.