Could neanderthals speak with one another? how "smart" were they?

Question

Could neanderthals speak with one another? how "smart" were they?

Answer 1

There is virtually no agreement in the academic community on this subject. Certain skeletal structures suggest that speech may have been possible. But possible and actual are two different things. Even if they were language capable, there isn't much proof they used language. There is evidence, burials and burial items, that suggest Neaderthals had something like culture.

Lots of creatures communicate (my dog is very good at communicating to me what she wants), and so it's very reasonable to suggest that Neaderthals were perfactly capable of communicating with each other. Language, like we think of it, is another matter entirely. From what I understand, the issue is still an open question. We can't say that they did, but that's a long way from saying they didn't.

Answer 2

The honest answer is "We don't know (if they had language) but they had the ability to speak.  And their brains were actually larger than ours.

Answer 3

I think they could probably speak with one another, but I doubt it was advanced as English or any other language is today.

Answer 4

Obviously no one knows since we weren't there. Dolpins can communicate, monkeys, dogs. Do any rational people think that we are the first ones to be able to communicate?

Answer 5

The Hymoid bone is very small and fragile in the throat. This is what gives us the ability to articulate words to have meaning. Without this bone we can only grunt.

     Due to this fragility that bone is always lost to time and the elements, it has never been found among artifacts in the Neanderthal.  So, until we have one, we can only assimilate that Neanderthal only grunted his meanings. That didn't mean he was unintelligent.

    This hyMoid  (bone) is actually thin mucus membranes and tissues, bone. In the throat.

Answer 6

Yes.Not like we talk today.But with grunts and verbal noises.It is also believed that body language and sign language was used.They survived for thousands of years untill homo sapeians [man kind today]came along.So while they were primitive by to days standards they were not stupid.How do you think we are going to look 4000 years from now?