From the ape-like calls of our ancient ancestors to our modern vocabularies of 50,000 words, Steven Mithen draws on the latest discoveries in archaeology, linguistics, psychology and genetics to reconstruct the steps by which humans evolved language - and talked our way out of the Stone Age. This radical new work bridges gaps between disciplines to explain the development of language as the key to what makes us human.
Synthesising meticulously researched evidence, Mithen charts a biography of speech that stretches over millions of years, showing how language changed us and shaped our civilisation.