Civilization / Foundations of Civilization

Spoken Language

Spoken language lets people pass on knowledge, plans and rules: the foundation of all cooperation and culture.

Language is the question with the thinnest evidence, because speech leaves no traces; proposed origins range from some 50,000-100,000 years ago to about half a million years ago, in the common ancestor of Neanderthals and modern humans. A 2025 analysis of 15 genetic studies dates the first split of living human populations to about 135,000 years ago and argues that, since every population has full language, the capacity must be at least that old. Language made planning, teaching and shared myths and norms possible.