3 ms·

> The craftsmanship of the tools at the Konso site, as well as other sites, "suggest that Homo erectus technology was more sophisticated and versatile than we h

> The craftsmanship of the tools at the Konso site, as well as other sites, "suggest that Homo erectus technology was more sophisticated and versatile than we had thought. And the bone handaxe occurrence fits in nicely," Suwa said. H. erectus used advanced flaking techniques to create the hand axe. Tools, fire, advanced social organization, and migration through a large part of Eurasia; all without spoken language. I don’t think the name H. erectus is meaningful to the general population. I wonder if we shouldn’t associate Turkana Boy as a stand-in much the way Lucy is well known in popular culture. This is a unique and important Homo species; “ancient human ancestor” is too nebulous for my liking.

amanaplanacanal 6y ago
How do we know they didn’t have spoken language? I haven’t heard that before.
- sradman 6y ago
  According to Wikipedia [1] the science is not as settled as I thought but my understanding is that from the nerves needed for breath control to various vocal apparatus, erectus’ speech would have been primitive at best. Speech, however, is not the only way to express language. An innovation in spoken language is one of the theories used to explain the Great Leap in modern sapiens. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_erectus#Language https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_erectus#Language
  - sebastialonso 6y ago
    I'm trying to come up with alternative ways to convey meaning as precise and detailed as to carve handaxes from bone without using spoken language, primitive or not. Maybe some mix of sign language, sound and pantomime?
    - mkl 6y ago
      Hand axes would be easy to convey: demonstrate creation and use, repeatedly, and help learners do both. Homo Erectus made hand axes the same way for a million years, without much innovation, to the point that it's been hypothesised they were more like bird song or bird nests than cultural artefacts. See e.g. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5066817/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5066817/

amanaplanacanal 6y ago

How do we know they didn’t have spoken language? I haven’t heard that before.

sradman 6y ago
According to Wikipedia [1] the science is not as settled as I thought but my understanding is that from the nerves needed for breath control to various vocal apparatus, erectus’ speech would have been primitive at best. Speech, however, is not the only way to express language. An innovation in spoken language is one of the theories used to explain the Great Leap in modern sapiens. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_erectus#Language https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_erectus#Language
- sebastialonso 6y ago
  I'm trying to come up with alternative ways to convey meaning as precise and detailed as to carve handaxes from bone without using spoken language, primitive or not. Maybe some mix of sign language, sound and pantomime?
  - mkl 6y ago
    Hand axes would be easy to convey: demonstrate creation and use, repeatedly, and help learners do both. Homo Erectus made hand axes the same way for a million years, without much innovation, to the point that it's been hypothesised they were more like bird song or bird nests than cultural artefacts. See e.g. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5066817/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5066817/