The 1.6-million-year-old archaeological evidence changes our understanding of the history of language.

Humans have developed the ability to speak since 1.6 million years ago in the wilderness of southern Africa, according to a new research report led by archaeologist Steven Mithen.

“No one can doubt that humans have physically and culturally evolved thanks to their ability to speak. That’s why determining when the first form of language appeared is so important,” Professor Mithen, a prehistory expert at the University of Reading, told The Independent.

Previously, most experts believed that humans only started talking around 200,000 years ago. But in his new report, Professor Mithen suggests that an early version of ancient language emerged at least eight times earlier. He reached this conclusion based on evidence found at excavation sites, in genetics, and in the anatomy of ancient humans, along with some other linguistic evidence.

Combining all these, he suggests that the birth of language occurred between 1.5 and 2 million years ago.

Another crucial factor is the significant increase in human brain size, especially from around 2 million years BC, followed by a rapid increase in size after approximately 1.5 million years BC. A larger brain size came with the reorganization of internal brain structures – including the initial development of the frontal lobe, particularly related to thinking, imagining, and cognitive functions. There is a region called “Broca’s area” here, believed to be related to language production and comprehension.

The new research indicated that the appearance of Broca’s area was associated with improvements in memory retention – a crucial factor for forming sentences. But other evolutionary developments also played a significant role in the emergence of early language.

Two factors evolved alongside humans in the early stages of evolution: bipedalism and changes in the skull shape. Some studies suggest these may have contributed to changing the shape and position of the respiratory tract, enabling the capacity for speech.

Another significant piece of evidence, dating back to around 1.6 million years BC (the period when humans may have begun speaking), appears in archaeological sites. Compared to other contemporaneous species, humans were particularly vulnerable, so our ancestors might have had a different “weapon” to gain an advantage.

During evolution, language almost certainly became part of the strategy to compensate for physical strength. To hunt large animals (or during foraging, to fend off stronger animals), early humans needed better planning and group coordination skills – the development of language was crucial in this context.

Humans started hunting around 2 million years ago, and hunting efficiency increased significantly around 1.5 million years ago. The history recorded in fossils from about 1.6 million years ago shows the development and transmission of culture through generations. Stone tools became much more efficient. The ability to talk might have helped humans transfer complex knowledge and skills from one generation to the next.

Moreover, language communication helped humans survive in different ecological and climatic environments. It’s no coincidence that humans could rapidly migrate worldwide around 1.4 million years ago, almost immediately after the onset of language. This ability helped humans envision, plan, and convey knowledge, three important aspects of building the future.

“Language has profoundly changed the history of humankind,” said Professor Mithen. His new research suggests that before the advent of language, human communication abilities were very limited, possibly only comprising a few dozen sounds and hand gestures.

Over hundreds of thousands of years, language evolved and became more complex, reaching the sophisticated level we have today. In the modern era, we not only use language to talk to each other but also create new languages, such as programming languages to interact with computers.