Did Neanderthals Have Language? Part 2: The Anatomy of Speech

The Neanderthal language debate is old, actually quite old. Dating back almost fifty years, many of the researchers who initially began studying the topic are still heavily engaged in the subject today, and it continues to be one of the most fiery debates in paeloanthropology. Before the advent of genetics, our only way of answering the question of Neanderthal language was by looking at Neanderthal anatomy. The problem is, there are nearly a thousand ways to reconstruct a Neanderthal speech apparatus…

Rethinking Primate Origins, and a Visit to the HMNH

I’ve been trying to get out as much as I can while I’m in Boston since I’m only going to be here until the end of July. Today was pretty hot outside, so instead of straying too far from the nest I decided to keep things close and took a ten minute walk down to the Harvard Museum of Natural History, I also had a chance to get a meeting with Matt Cartmill.