The Revolutionary Origins of Language - Chris Knight & Jerome Lewis

The story of how human speech came about—and the early human societies that shaped this vital skill Humans’ability to acquire speech is extraordinary. Scientists across the ages have been unable to find anything remotely like it in any other creature on Earth, whether in our primate cousins or other forms of life. Somehow, each of us is equipped from birth with the ability to learn, make sounds and communicate. But how did this unique skill develop? And what does it reveal about the nature of humanity?

Radical anthropologists Chris Knight and Jerome Lewis explore our unique ability to speak, by studying thehunter-gatherer societies where it came about. Looking at the social dynamics of Indigenous peoples today, they demonstrate how a culture of egalitarianism amongst early humans allowed for the development of complex modes of communication. Only amidst a social order based on consensually agreed rules could language eventually emerge.

The Revolutionary Origins of Languageis a bold new assessment of our evolutionary past—and the complex conditions which produced our most prized skill.

LISTEN to a special edition of the Time Team podcast, Helen Geake and Martyn Williams sit down with Chris and Jerome, to discuss their new book.