Scholars have made informed, educated guesses at what Shakespeare sounded like in the original pronunciation. The same applies to what Old Norse sounded like from the 9th through the 13th centuries. And even to Beowulf read in Old English, Homer’s Odyssey read in the original Ancient Greek, and The Epic of Gilgamesh read in Akkadian.
But could we push back much further in time? How about 40,000 years into deep history when our close cousins, the Neanderthals, populated the planet?
Above, you can watch a segment of a BBC documentary, Neanderthal: The Rebirth, where a team of scientists “examine the first full skeleton of a neanderthal ever to be discovered and uncover insights into the most likely sound our primitive cousins would have made.” Anatomists, biometric specialists, paleoanthropologists, and vocal experts–they all worked together to analyze the Neanderthal’s vocal apparatus and came to this conclusion: Homo neanderthalensis likely had a surprisingly high-pitched voice (the original High Pitch). It’s on display above.
If you would like to sign up for Open Culture’s free email newsletter, please find it here.
If you would like to support the mission of Open Culture, consider making a donation to our site. It’s hard to rely 100% on ads, and your contributions will help us continue providing the best free cultural and educational materials to learners everywhere. You can contribute through PayPal, Patreon, Venmo (@openculture) and Crypto. Thanks!
Related Content:
What Ancient Greek Music Sounded Like: Hear a Reconstruction That is ‘100% Accurate’
Hear What Shakespeare Sounded Like in the Original Pronunciation
Learn What Old Norse Sounded Like, with UC Berkeley’s “Cowboy Professor, Dr. Jackson Crawford
Hear What Homer’s Odyssey Sounded Like When Sung in the Original Ancient Greek
Hear Beowulf Read In the Original Old English: How Many Words Do You Recognize?
Hear The Epic of Gilgamesh Read in the Original Akkadian and Enjoy the Sounds of Mesopotamia
Leave a Reply