From: Glenn Morton (glennmorton@entouch.net)
Date: Sun Jun 29 2003 - 13:17:33 EDT
On Oct 1, 2001 a new skull of H. erectus was found at Sambungmacan, Java.
This skull has an interesting basicranium which tends to negate arguments
advanced by some who think archaic hominids couldn't speak.
The article notes:
“A Homo erectus calvarium [Sambungmacan 4 (Sm 4)] was recovered from
Pleistocene sediments at Sambungmacan in central Java. Micro-computed
tomography analysis shows a modern human-like cranial base flexion
associated with a low platycephalic vault, implying that the evolution of
human cranial globularity was independent of cranial base flexion.” Hisao
Baba et al, “Homo erectus Calvarium from the Pleistocene of Java,” Science,
299(2003):1384-1388, p. 1384
A curved basicranium is necessary for good speech (not for speech itself)
according to those who study this issue. Flat basicraniums have been cited
as evidence against speech in Neanderthals.
"Although some of the earlier sterotyped notions about
Neanderthals now seem to be passe, a controversial idea has been
introduced that may revive them, it has been claimed that
Neanderthals could not speak very well. Philip Lieberman, Edmund
S. Crelin, and Dennis H. Klatt (1972) have made measurements of
the neck vertebrae and the base of the skull of the man of La
Chapelle aux Saints and have concluded that Neanderthals were
unable to pronounce a number of vowels and consonants that we can
pronounce today. This does not mean that Neanderthals had no
language, but Lieberman et al. believe that linguistic
communication among Neanderthals was considerably slower and less
efficeint than among ourselves.
?"Criticism of the findings of Lieberman and his
associates has come from two articles in the American Journal of
Physical Anthropology, in which the following points re made: (1)
the brains of Neanderthals were at least as large as those of
modern humans; (2) the Sylvian fissures of the brain, as seen in
the endocranial cast of the skull of La Chapelle aux Saints,
resemble those of modern humans, implying that speech was
present, (3) modern adults who have features like those described
by Lieberman et al., such as prognathism and flattening of the
base of the skull, are quite able to speak complex modern
languages; and (4) Lieberman and his associates have
reconstructed the hyoid bone of the La Chapelle aux Saints
individual in a position too high to permit swallowing, not
taking into account the influence of upright posture and
bipedalism on the position of the larnyx." ~ Victor Barnouw, An
Introduction to Anthropology: Physical Anthropology and
Archaeology, Vol. 1, (Homewood, Illinois: The Dorsey Press, 1982)
p. 151
Lieberman cited the flat basicranium of a diseased and damanges Neanderthal
speciment as evidence for lack of language.
"More recently, the La Chapelle-aux Saints specimen has
figured prominently in a debate over whether Neandertals
possessed the equivalent of modern spoken language. it was
argued that because the cranium had an unusually flat base, the
larynx would have sat too high in the throat of Neandertals for
them to pronounce the vowels a, i, and u. The base of a modern
human cranium, once past infancy, becomes flexed, which lowers
the larynx in the throat and permits a broader range of sounds to
pass from the pharynx. A more recent reconstruction of the
cranium of the La Chapell-aux-Saints individual resulted in
greater base flexion than Boule allowed in his reconstruction,
but it still appears to have a flatter cranial base than in
modern humans. Exactly what conclusion can be drawn from this
feature remains unclear, but perhaps it is time to refrain from
reading further Neandertal generalities into the diseased and
damaged specimen from La Chapelle-aux-Saints." ~ Donald Johanson
and Blake Edgar, From Lucy to Language, (New York: Simon and
Schuster, 1997), p. 224
There is one other interesting thing about this skull. It was found only
100 m from where Sm 3 was found, a Homo erectus skull which dates to only
30-50,000 years old and Sm3 also seems to have the physiology for speech.
"The Sm 3 petalial pattern, while not distinct, suggests a
torque pattern usually found in right-handed modern humans.
Such a pattern corroborates hemispheric dominance in H.
erectus, albeit this is speculative. In addition, Sm 3
possesses a pronounced Broca's cap that is highly left over
right asymmetric. Although the right frontal lobe is broader
at the point of Broca's cap, the left cap is larger overall.
In addition, as the area corresponding to the third inferior
frontal convolution travels toward the Sylvan fissure there
is a noticeable bulge anterior to the frontal branch of the
middle meningeal artery, continuing vertically along the
coronal suture. While this feature cannot be assigned a
Brodmann's map area; the presence of this feature is
provocative for the inference of an enhancement of speech
areas. Holloway noted the presence of Broca's cap in
pongids, yet the presence of the feature is inconsistent,
unlike Homo. Tobias claims that this indicates that there was
the possibility for speech in H. habilis. While this evidence
is merely corroborative, it does strongly suggest that some
form of speech was established in later H. erectus. The
degree of asymmetry seen in associative speech features in
Sm3 is corroborative, albeit not causally indicative, of the
idea that Sm 3 and other Indonesian H. erectus had developed
a level of speech ability not seen in previous hominin
groups."
?"The remarkable degree of completeness of the Sm 3
endocast provides important information to the understanding
of Indonesian H. erectus. The unique features of this
endocast such as a short, high vaulted, globular endocranium,
along with left-right asymmetries, indicate that the cerebral
evolution of later hominins was more complex than previously
thought. In addition, the presence of a well-developed,
asymmetric Broca's cap and left-right hemispheric asymmetry
point to a degree of possible cognitive specialization
approaching later hominins." Douglas C. Broadfield, Ralph L.
Holloway, Kenneth Mowbray, Adam Silvers, Michael S. Yuan, and
Samuel Marquez," Endocast of Sambungmacan 3 (Sm 3): A New
Homo erectus From Indonesia," The Anatomical Record,
262(2001):369-379, p. 377
As for the late date of these erectus's here is what the dating specialists
say:
"Hominid fossils from Njandong and Sambungmacan, Central Java,
are considered the most morphologically advanced representatives
of Homo erectus. Electron spin resonance (ESR) and mass
spectrometric U-series dating of fossil bovid teeth collected
from the hominid-bearing levels at these sites gave mean ages of
27+/- 2 to 53.3+/-4 thousand years ago; the range in ages
reflects uncertainties in uranium migration histories. These
ages are 20,000 to 400,000 years younger than previous age
estimates for these hominids and indicate that H. erectus may
have survived on Java at least 250,000 years longer than on the
Asian mainland, and perhaps 1 million years longer than in
Africa. The new ages raise the possibility that H. erectus
overlapped in time with anatomically modern humans (H. sapiens)
in Southeast Asia." ~ C. C. Swisher III, W. J. Rink. S. C. Anton,
H. P. Schwarcz, G. H. Curtis, A. Suprijo, and Widiasmoro,
"Laterst Homo erectus of Java: Potential Contemporaneity with
Homo sapiens in Southeast Asia," Science, 274(Dec 13, 1996), p.
1870-1874, p. 1870
This presents a Hobson's choice to the Christian apologist who denies
interbreeding with archaics. If there was no interbreeding and these
erectus is a different species, then we have to account for two species
which have language--a characteristic of mankind and humanity. If they and
we are the same species, then it is clear that humanity must be extended to
the H. erectus and they lived from 2 million years on, meaning humanity goes
back much farther than we desire. Secondly, if language existed among the
erectus, then it wasn't created when the supposed speciation event took
place in which anatomically modern humans were created.
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