¿Y si el lenguaje tiene cien mil años? Explorando las consecuencias de la datación del FOXP2 humano

Guillermo Lorenzo González

Resumen


And if language is 100,000 years old? Exploring the consequences of the paleogenitic analysis of human FOXP2

A recent paleogenetic analysis of FOXP2 relates the mutations of the human version of this gene to the emergence of modern humans, some 100-200 thousand years ago. This articles explores the consequences of such discovery concerning our understanding of the evolutionary process that brought language into existence. It is organized around three main questions: did Neanderthals use a type of language similar to ours?, what is the meaning of the morphologic and arqueologic data traditionally used to argue for or against the use of language among hominids?, and how can we explain the apparent mismatch between the emergence of language and the symbolic explosion of the Upper Paleolithic?

 

Key words: Origin of language, paleogenetic, paleoanthropology, modern sapiens, Neanderthal man, hominids, symbolic explosion.

 


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