Parallel: Early Humans Had Sophisticated Language Skills

Many Latter-day Saints believe that Adam and Eve were the first of the human race and had sophisticated language skills. This was briefly explained in Mormon Belief: Adam and Eve Had Sophisticated Language Skills.

In parallel with this, scientists believe that humans have sophisticated language skills because of the presence of the FOXP2 gene in the human genome. Until recently, only humans were thought to have that gene. However, as shown in Cavemen 'May Have Used Language', the FOXP2 gene was found in the Neanderthal genome, leading some scientists to speculate that the Neanderthals may have had sophisticated language skills. Since the Neanderthals are believed to have lived earlier than humans, although they overlapped humans, the discovery of this gene may extend further back in time the capability for sophisticated language skills.

The extension of language skills earlier back in time to the Neanderthals might give credence to the LDS belief that Adam and Eve were the first humans and had sophisticated language skills. However, there still remains the serious problem that the Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens lived much earlier than the traditional era of Adam and Eve which is believed to be approximately 6,000 years ago. The era of Homo Sapiens extends back to 150,000 years ago or so, and the era of the Neanderthals goes back to 400,000 years or so.

In contrast to many (most?) LDS, I believe that Adam and Eve were the first humans, and I also believe that the Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens lived much earlier than Adam and Eve. In order to explain this, I need to explain the LDS concept of a "human being". As explained in Mormon Belief: Spirit Offspring Of God, LDS believe that we are the spirit offspring of God. That is, from the religious viewpoint, a human is a combination of a spirit offspring of God and a physical body. Without the spirit offspring of God, the body is merely an animal, albeit an intelligent animal that can communicate, build fires, hunt, draw pictures on cave walls, etc. I believe that through evolution, God created the world and created physical bodies for his spirit children. The Neanderthals and early Homo Sapiens were prototypes, so to speak, of the bodies being created for Adam and Eve. When the time came for those bodies to be "used", God placed the spirits of Adam and Eve into them, and they became the first humans. Of course, this is a religious view and is not supported by science, nor should one expect it to be supported by science. For those interested, I discuss this in detail in the chapter in my book on a correlation between the Fall of Adam and evolution. The text of that chapter can be downloaded. Click on the Evolution/Fall of Adam link and then on the download link.

Cavemen 'May Have Used Language'

Recently, DNA was extracted from bones of Neanderthals, and scientists are attempting to create the genome of the Neanderthals. This is an important project since the Neanderthals are extinct.

As reported in an article in the British newspaper, The Telegraph, for October 21, 2007, the FOXP2 gene has been found in the Neanderthal DNA. This gene, known has the "language gene" is believed to be necessary for oral communication, and until this discovery, the gene was only known to exist in humans. Apes, for example, have a form of speech, but they have a different "language gene".

Professor Svante Paabo, who has been leading the Neanderthal genome project at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, said the presence of the language gene would change the way people view Neanderthals.

He said: “It is not a compliment to be called a Neanderthal, but we are finding that the Neanderthal DNA looks much more like contemporary humans than chimps.

“The human variations of this gene involved in the use of language are not found in apes and for a long time there has been speculation Neanderthals would have a different gene and so a different linguistic ability.

“By looking at their DNA, we have found that from the point of view of this gene, there is no reason they would not have spoken like we do. It is a very contentious area with a lot of different views.”

Some scientists urge us to be cautious in assuming the Neanderthals had sophisticated language skills. In fact

Dr Simon Fisher, one of the scientists at Oxford University who discovered FOXP2, said: “This is a really fascinating study, but analysis of a single gene is not enough to resolve the big question of whether or not Neanderthals were capable of speech or for us to estimate what level of complexity their vocal communication could achieve.”

Mormon Belief: Adam and Eve Had Sophisticated Language Skills

The book of Genesis describes God's creation of the earth and the creation of Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve were created with the ability to talk and to think much as we humans do today. Here are two examples of Adam and Eve conversing with God and with the serpent, respectively.

And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman because she was taken out of Man. (Genesis 2:23)

And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: (Genesis 3:2)