0183 What about the voice?

As far as this examiner is concerned, the voice is added to fully linguistic hand-talk, over a period of hundreds of thousands of years.

0184 Why do I say this?

Well, Mithen has already ruled out this option.  So, my answer must shine, faintly, like the morning sun, through the clouds of his explicit abstractions.

0185 Mithen tells the reader that, around the same time as the domestication of fire, Homo heidelbergensis appears in the fossil record.

Mithen tells the reader, in chapter eleven, on language and the brain, that Homo heidelbergensis has the brain asymmetry (and other features) indicative of language.  But, this “language” is not a civilized language… er, speech-alone talk, because… well… the vocal tract is not quite right… but… it must be… since the gestural origin of language has been ruled out.

0186 Not only that, but in the same chapter, Mithen discusses the natural-historical observation that, even though Neanderthals (who are now extinct) and humans have the same size of brain, the shape of the brain is different.  This keys into the geneticist’s conclusion that the Neanderthal and human lineages split before hearths become common.

0187 The different brain geometries are revealing.  Neanderthals appear in the fossil record long before humans.  Their eyes and occipital lobes are larger.  The occipital lobes are devoted to visual processing.  On top of that, one of their cerebellar hemispheres is larger than the other.  Is the left side in charge of the right hand?

0188 Does that sound like a deepening commitment to sensible and team-oriented hand talk?

It does to me.

0189 In contrast, Homo sapiens appears in the fossil record much later than Neanderthals.  Their faces are flatter as part of a horizontal shortening of the face, a consequence of the back of the mouth going vertical, in a sense, which looks rather dangerous.  But, it makes for a wonderfully complex resonance chamber with the pharyngeal and sinus cavities.

Also, instead of an expanded occipital lobe, humans have expanded parietal lobes (think of sensory and motor strips) and frontal lobes (think about others along with oneself).

0190 Does this sound like the addition of speech to fully linguistic hand-talk?

It does to me.

0191 I ask, “What niche must have opened up, besides the social circle of the team, that not only allows for proto-linguistic team-bound hand-talk to become fully linguistic community-oriented hand-talk, but encourages the voice to join hands with manual-brachial gestures?”

Plus, is this niche precisely the puzzle that Mithen refuses to acknowledge explicitly, even as he implicitly provides information to answer?

0192 So, why introduce the voice to fully linguistic hand-talk?

Well, it may have something to do with adaptations to the social circle of community (150).

Or, the voice may play a role for even larger social circles, like mega-bands (500) and tribes (1500).

0193 The first three items in the following list derive from Razie Mah’s e-book, The Human Niche.  The last item comes from chapter four of Mithen’s book.

0194 How does the vocal tract come under voluntary neural control?

The first “how” considers the role of singing.

Mega-bands (500) gather seasonally.  Tribes (1500) gather on occasion.  Time is limited, because such a large gathering invites disease.  So, our hominin ancestors recruit the voice for rapid synchronization.  Singing together and breathing in unison are biological ways to entrain a large number for the tasks at hand.  Memories must be refreshed.  Births celebrated. New stories told.  Marriages must be arranged.  Deaths must be discussed.  Such are the branches and the roots of the tree of life.

Singing in these large social circles translates into everyday life through sexual selection.  Mate preference may well account for why male and female adults have different vocal ranges and can sing in harmony.

0195 But, there remains a second “how”.  A vocal accompaniment… a vocal adornment… is knit to each hand-talk word.  This is precisely where Mithen’s hidden intuition shines.

This is where synaesthesia enters the picture.