Research paper for Anthropology on Language

The Neanderthals
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Introduction
Human evolution has been one of the most intriguing subjects that have been studied in history. Much like the thoughts of the afterlife, everyone have the nagging thought and a quest to understand where they came from. It is for this reason that several theories have been fronted to try and explain the origin of man. The theory of evolution also forms one of the most intriguing explanation for the origin of man. Relative to the various findings that have been discovered across the world, there is quite a significant amount of information that exists explaining the chain of events that took place millions of years ago. It is these events that shaped the evolutionary path for mankind along with the rest of the organisms that grace the world today as well as those that are long extinct. One part of the human evolution is language and it involves the Neanderthals, which form a significant part of the evolutionary history for mankind. The Neanderthals lived in complex societies of small groups and showed some very advanced skills. The anatomical arrangement of their throats in recent research indicates their ability to command speech. From the research the Hyoid bone was discovered from the Neanderthals’ remains. This bone which assumes a semicircular shape and is held in place by the larynx, tongue, face and throat muscles; is responsible for the ability to swallow, cough and gag among other elements of the throat (Dediu and Levinson). Their name comes from the place that their remains were found, referred to as Neanderthals. They are believed to have existed roughly 600,000 years ago (Finlayson).
Neanderthals
The first remains of the Neanderthals were discovered in the year 1820s and since then there have been quite a number of discoveries in Europe. The most detailed dating of the Neanderthals that has been completed in the recent past was carried out by Prof Thomas Higham from the oxford university in 2014 (Higham et al.). Using the tools discovered, Higham used the modern and sophisticated technology to elaborate on the idea that the Neanderthals may have become extinct in Europe some roughly 40000 years ago. This is a period that marks the start of the cold weather experienced in Europe (Higham et al.).
Much of the evidence indicate that the Neanderthals used stone and bones tools for their daily chores, which indicates that they were quite advanced. They are also said to have been much larger than the current Homo sapiens, relative to the fact that they lived in higher altitudes. Their bigger body structures also indicated that they had a much bigger cranial capacity than the modern man. They are closest relatives to the human race, given that they also had some similarities to humans, relative to the fact that they had angled cheek bones, an enlarged middle part of their face, they could also humidify their dry air through their large nose (Finlayson). Studies show that, the Neanderthals had powerful fingers on their hands, which were attached to long arms and high shoulder blades. As such, they are thought to have had the ability to climb on trees.
Their long limbs, a flexible lumbar spine and their flat feet also suggest that they could stand on their two feet and more importantly had the ability to walk for long distances. As the discovered tools indicate, the Neanderthals were quite intelligent as other than the tools which were sophisticated, they also made and wore cloths. They had mastered the art and science of hunting large animals, alongside planting for food (Lieberman). They had also developed specific skills to make ornaments. The Neanderthals lived in the glacial period and much of the evidence has been quite difficult to find. Their existence is filled with a lot gaps and the debates that they elicit are quite interesting given their placement and the role that they play on the evolutionary trend of the human kind. One of the debates is attributed to the theory that mankind originated from Africa (Finlayson).
The Neanderthals are thought to be the only relative to the modern man that do not have an African heritage, but instead have their roots in Europe, where most of the remains have been found (Wong). Some school of thought believe that the Neanderthals interbred with the homo sapiens to give rise to some of the species of human kind spread across Europe; other maintain that the true cradle of man was Africa. However, they are also part of the most advanced human relatives with astonishing characteristics and practices, which underline their sophistication. One of the most crucial element of the Neanderthals is that they have been found to have had language skills which they used to communicate between themselves.
Language and evolution
Language is an important part of civilization and it came with a lot of benefits to various species that have mastered communication. For the humans, it reduced the degree of aggressive behavior, it also played part in the tool making process, hunting and most importantly the ability to reproduce after finding the right mate (Lieberman). Relative to the various similarities that are shared between the Neanderthals and the modern man, there are some intriguing elements of modern speech and language that can be traced to the Neanderthals and the immediate ancestors of the two that is the Homo heidelbergensis.
Language evolution of the Neanderthals
Neanderthals lived in communities that had complex social structures and they had some very advanced skills as they could make clothing, jewelry and at the very basic level weapons for various uses (Lieberman). This means that they were quite advanced for their time and is one the reasons that they said to be closest to the modern man. They too had a large brain and mastered a lot of human-like attributes.
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