Thanks Richard for the reference to Walker &
Shipman's "The Wisdom of Bones". Wish those bones spoke to me in the same
way they speak to W & S.
Nariokotome Boy (or Turkana Boy) has been labeled
both Homo ergaster or Homo erectus. It also has been compared with both
Peking Man and Java Man. Any idea why?
Just because its thoracic innervation was far less
than in H. s. sapiens could be something peculiar to the individual rather than
to the species as a whole.
HTH,
Gerry
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, March 01, 2003 1:51
PM
Subject: [Nostratica] Re: Did H. erectus
speak?
For a readable discussion of H. erectus and speech, I
recommend 'The Wisdom of Bones' by Alan Walker & Pat Shipman. Alan
Walker was involved in the excavation of the best H. erectus specimen (dated
1.53 +/- 0.05 Myears BP), the Nariokotome boy (KNM-WT 15000) - an
adolescent. Its thoracic innervation was far less than in H. s. sapiens,
which all suggests it could not control breathing well enough to talk - an
interpretation due to Gwen
Hewitt.
Richard.