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Language likely promoted peace before 100,000 ya

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 January 2024

Richard Wrangham Open the ORCID record for Richard Wrangham [Opens in a new window]
Richard Wrangham*
Affiliation:
Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA wrangham@fas.harvard.edu; https://heb.fas.harvard.edu/people/richard-w-wrangham
*
*Corresponding author.
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Abstract

Based on evidence of selection against alpha-male behavior in the earliest Homo sapiens, I suggest that by 300,000 ya (years ago) language would have been sufficiently sophisticated to contribute to peacemaking between groups. Language also influenced the social landscape of peace and war, and groups' ability to form coalitions.

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Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 47 , 2024 , e30
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press

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