Homo erectus: Methods of communication
Although impossible to establish Homo erectus must have possessed a language to discuss their plans and carry out such attacks? Attempts have been made to deduce from their skulls and neckbones the structure of the soft parts of their throats and the current view is that although they were probably capable of making noises considerably more complex than the grunts and screams of modern apes, their speech, would probably have been slow and clumsy. However, Homo erectus had another medium of communication at their disposal - gestures - and we can make some confident guesses as to what they were and what they meant. Human beings have more separate muscles in their face than any other animal. They make it possible to move the various elements - lips, cheeks, forehead, eyebrows - in a great variety of ways that no other creature can match. There is little doubt, therefore, that the face was the centre of Homo erectus's gestural communication.
Human beings have more separate muscles in their face than any other animal. There is little doubt, therefore, that the face was the centre of Homo erectus's gestural communication.
