HUMAN DIVERSITY AND LANGUAGE DIVERSITY

Since language is the defining trait of our species, human evolution and linguistic evolution are obviously closely intertwined. Recent studies in genetics suggest that anatomically modern humans emerged at a very late date, perhaps 50 kys (Bertrapetit 2000; Thompson 2000). This dating is consistent with the onset of an unprecedented degree of cultural innovations, in both quality and quantity, as revealed in the archaeological record (Klein 1999). We share the belief with many students of human prehistory that the evolution of anatomically modern humans, the emergence of language, and the burst of cultural innovations, including extensive cave art and sailing across broad expanses of water are events which are all closely linked to each other…