Did Neanderthals talk like you? Scans of fossil ear bones from extinct human cousins show they were tuned for vocal communication

They were dismissed as stupid and primitive by the archaeologists who first studied their fossilised bones, but it seems Neanderthals may have been just as chatty as our own species. Researchers have discovered evidence that suggests Neanderthals may have used vocal communication just like our own species Homo sapiens. They used 3D scans to analyse the delicate ear bones from both the fossilised remains of Neanderthals and modern humans. Scientists have found evidence that suggests Neanderthals (reconstruction pictured) may have communicated vocally in similar ways to modern humans. Using highly detailed'micro-CT' scans they were able to reconstruct how the ear bones, or ossicles, would have functioned when Neanderthals were alive.