Expert: John Shea - 9/29/2006

Question
You seem to be extremely knowledgeable.  I was wondering if I could ask you a question.  I am writing a paper for college, and I need credit from a quick interview.  Would you mind?  If not, my question is this:

Do you feel the Neanderthal was able to develop complex language?  If so, how about writing?

Thanks for your time.  Please state your name and credentials (if applicable) with your response.  

--Todd Nelsen  

Answer
Todd,
I don't have time for an interview.  Sorry, but this is an unusally busy time.
Briefly
Neandertals had large brains, lived in groups, and as best as we can tell, had an upper respiratory tract that was fairly similar to own.  There are some differences in skull shape that suggest they may not have been less capable of producing the same range of sounds that we do.  (Best work on are separate studies by Philip Lieberman, Daniel Lieberman, and Jeffrey Laitman.)  It would be astonishing to me if they did not have some form of oral communication, -perhaps a form of speech less rapid and message-rich than our own.
There is no evidence to suggest that Neandertals had any form of writing.  They do not seem to have done many things that resulted in artifacts with symbolic designs.  I wouldn't read too much into this, though, because our own species has only been writing for the last 5000 years or so.  Even if you include the Upper Paleolithic cave art dating to 40,000 years ago as a form of "writing", either figure is only a tiny fraction of the time Homo sapiens has been around (>200,000 years).
Cheers,
John Shea