Author(s)

Krzysztof Izdebski^1,2,3*, Herbert Dedo⁴, Raul M. Cruz^5,6, Alysson R. Muotri⁷

¹Chairman of the Pacific Voice & Speech Foundation, San Francisco, CA, USA.
²Vice President of The World Voice Consortium, Oporto, Portugal.
³San Francisco Conservatory of Music, San Francisco, CA, USA.
⁴Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, USA (Died, August 2021).
⁵Vice-Chair of the Pacific Voice & Speech Foundation, San Francisco, CA, USA.
⁶Chief of Voice Clinic at the Head & Neck Surgery Department & HNS Residency Program Director, Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, CA, USA.
⁷Departments of Pediatrics and Cellular & Molecular Medicine, Director of the Stem Cell Program and Archealization Center, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.

Purpose: Paleoanthropologists link the discovery of the modern human-like hyoid bone (HB) in Neanderthal skeleton remains at Kebara Cave (Israel) as the pivotal evolutionary step associated with speech development. This finding is cited as evidence Neanderthals produced complex speech, yet this association remains controversial. Conclusion: Here, we present clinical and scientific evidence challenging the pivotal role of the HB in producing speech, and suggest that CNS development was more fundamental than the presence of HB to speech production.

Modern Human-Like Hyoid Bone, Speech Development, Neanderthals

Izdebski, K. , Dedo, H. , Cruz, R. and Muotri, A. (2021) Did the Neanderthals Produce Complex Speech?. Open Journal of Modern Linguistics, 11, 849-853. doi: 10.4236/ojml.2021.116065.