A popular exam question for undergraduates studying paleoanthropology is “Did Neanderthals speak?” The correct answer, to be spread over 3,000 words of supporting anatomical evidence please, is that Neanderthals were capable of speech, very probably. The structure of their throats is not dissimilar to our own and, in particular, the discovery of a hyoid bone in the Kebara Cave in Israel in 1989 indicated that their capability of speech must have been similar to our own.
