The Origins of Music: Preface - Preface

vertebral canals fall within the range of modern humans.Whereas some

may debate interpretation of vertebral arch size,it is evident that the

thoracic cage perfectly matches the modern human condition.

At the other end of the respiratory tract,a modern humanlike exter-

nal nose also makes its appearance by about 1.5 million years ago.First

described in detail by Franciscus and Trinkaus (1988),the bony archi-

tecture forming the structure of the human external nose is virtually

identical in australopithecines and chimpanzees (and other apes),but is

distinctly humanlike in fossils such as ER-3733 and others identified as

Homo erectusor early Homo sapiens(figure 14.4).In apes and aus-

tralopithecines,the nasal bones are flat (from side to side and top to

bottom) and the upper nasal margins are even with or sunken below the

transverse plane of the orbits.In living humans,the nasal bones are

curved and arched forward,and the upper nasal area projects away

from the face forming a true external nose.Franciscus and Trinkaus

(1988:524–525) emphasized important increases in “effectiveness in

humidification and temperature modification of inspired air”these

anatomical modifications signal,but development of the external nose

also has implications for speech sounds,since some consonants (e.g.,/n/)

are produced by nasal resonance.Apes apparently lack the ability to

produce consonants (Savage-Rumbaugh and Lewin 1994),which may in

part relate to their lack of an external nose.However,with the earliest

227 Fossil Evidence for the Origin of Speech Sounds

Figure 14.4

Views of nasal areas of a chimpanzee (left) and an early Homo (right).In the chimpanzee

the nasal bones are depressed and level with the sides of the face.In the early Homo(cast

of ER-3733) the nasal bones are arched and project away from the face,forming an exter-

nal nose.

Fig.14.4