Discovery of hyoid bone in Neanderthals’ suggest they could speak like humans

Zee Media Bureau

Washington: A new study conducted on Neanderthal fossil unearthed in 1989 suggest that they had ability to speak like humans.

After analysing Neanderthal’s fossilised hyoid bone, a horseshoe - shaped structure located between the chin and larynx, researchers suggest that Neanderthals may have had a complex language and could speak just like humans.

The hyoid bone theory comes from the Kebara cave in northern Israel, where a 60,000-year-old young adult Neanderthal known as Kebara 2 was discovered in 1989.

The researchers added that while the discovery is not concrete, it does offer new insight into the lives of Neanderthals.

The study has been published in the journal Plos One.

(With Agency inputs)