Evolution of language

These notes are initially drawn from "The Origins of Language" by James R Hurford

The Prehistory of a Very Special Ape

7m years ago - the line leading to humans split off from that leading to bonobos and chimpanzees
4-2m years ago - Australopithecus is the first habitually bipedal ape. Bipedalism allowed us to separate the rhythm of breathing from that of walking and running and freed hands for meaningful gestures
2.5-1.5m years ago - Homo Habilis (clever man), was the first to make stone tools. This indicates patience, postponement of gratification, a mind capable of foresight into future needs, and constructive planning,
1.5m years ago - Homo Erectus, a tall robust ape made more complex tools and may have had a "protolanguage", a meaningful learned vocabulary but no grammar - just words strung together. They made the first migration of hominins out of Africa.
1m years ago - Home Erectus can use controlled fire, which allows cooking and reduction of teeth and gut size, which may have freed up resources for bigger brains. These are the first hunter-gatherers, living and working to hunt and forage cooperatively in small groups.
500,000 years ago - We diverge from Neanderthals
300,000 years ago - Home Sapiens emerge
170,000 years ago - Home Sapiens start wearing clothing - a significant moment in the emergence of culture, clothing carried information about the status of individuals
140,000 years ago - Mitochondrial Eve (the most recent woman that all living humans share as an ancestor on their mother's side) and Y-chromosome Adam (the most recent male ancestor that all living men share on their entirely paternal line) are alive.
100,000 years ago - Homo Sapiens comes out of Africa
5,000 years ago - if any two individuals living today research their family tree, they will find at least one person in common in both trees who was alive at this time