Neanderthals speak out after 30,000 years

April 16, 2008 | Source: New Scientist news service

Robert McCarthy, an anthropologist at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton has used new reconstructions of Neanderthal vocal tracts to simulate the voice.

He inferred the dimensions of the larynx of a Neanderthal based on its skull. He says the ancient human’s speech lacked the “quantal vowel” sounds that underlie modern speech.