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How did individuals discuss within the Stone Age? – Tsubamé, aged eight, London, UK
The Stone Age refers to a time within the distant previous. It began round 3 million years in the past and lasted till about 40,000 years in the past.
It’s named the Stone Age as a result of throughout that point our distant ancestors made their instruments from stones. People like us – the species Homo sapiens – appeared lengthy after the beginning of the Stone Age, solely about 200,000 years in the past.
The Stone Age started when a number of species of apes began to make easy instruments by chipping sharp items of stone from bigger items of rock. These apes stood partly upright once they walked and that meant their palms had been free to do issues, like make instruments. These early upright apes had small brains, not very completely different from a chimpanzee’s mind, and they didn’t communicate.
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Different apes who walked upright got here later within the Stone Age. They’ve been given names like Homo habilis (useful man) or Homo erectus (upright man). These species lived in Africa round 1 to 2 million years in the past, nonetheless lengthy earlier than individuals like us existed. They’d bigger brains than the primary upright apes, however their brains had been nonetheless smaller than ours. They weren’t as clever as us and didn’t communicate, although they might have made sounds.
About 400,000 years in the past, three species that had a lot bigger brains than the sooner upright apes all lived at across the identical time. These had been referred to as Neanderthals, Denisovans, and an early type of the species Homo sapiens – our ancestors.
The Neanderthals and Denisovans lived outdoors of Africa within the a part of the world often called Eurasia, which incorporates Europe. Little is understood in regards to the Denisovans, however by round 100,000 years in the past Neanderthals had picket spears and some easy instruments constructed from the bones of animals akin to deer along with their instruments constructed from stone.
Some individuals assume that due to their giant brains and their means to make instruments apart from these from stone, Neanderthals may communicate. However that is only a guess. The final of the Neanderthals died about 40,000 years in the past.
Folks like us
The early people lived in Africa. By about 200,000 years in the past the primitive Homo sapiens had developed into what we now name fashionable people. These fashionable people had been as clever as we’re at this time, and will communicate utilizing language simply as we do at this time. “Homo sapiens” means “smart people”.
Later within the Stone Age, round 60,000 years in the past, individuals travelled out of Africa and finally unfold to the remainder of the world.
Early on, even our Homo sapiens ancestors solely made instruments from stones, however being able to talk, they in all probability used their language to show each other.
As time went on, they realized to make many various sorts of instruments from stones, wooden, bones and leather-based. They’d clothes, sneakers and made shelters, and so they hunted collectively for meals. By 40,000 years in the past, and probably even earlier, fashionable people drew footage on the partitions of caves.
There would have been far fewer completely different languages within the Stone Age than there are at this time. However the languages that did exist would have been similar to our fashionable languages. The individuals would have spoken in sentences with nouns and verbs, although the phrases they used would have been completely different, simply as, say, Japanese phrases are completely different from English phrases or French phrases.
Totally different languages
Languages would have been completely different amongst tribes. Folks might need discovered it onerous to speak to somebody from one other tribe, simply as after we go on vacation to a different nation we generally discover it onerous to grasp the language.
The languages would have had fewer phrases than now we have at this time as a result of they didn’t want phrases for issues like televisions, vehicles or computer systems. However like us, the trendy people of 200,000 years in the past would have counted issues. They might have had phrases for “mom” and “father” or “sister” and “brother”. They might have had names for animals and vegetation, they might have been in a position to make plans, say “please” and “thanks” and they’d have had names for one another.
The early fashionable people in all probability talked about lots of the identical issues we discuss: what to eat, who their pals had been. Dad and mom would have talked about their youngsters, and youngsters would have performed with one another, in all probability speaking on a regular basis simply as youngsters do at this time. They might even have sung songs to one another.
They may have been Stone Age individuals, however they had been fashionable when it got here to speaking.
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