I take this theory fully seriously. But ever since I first read it I have encountered at least some animals singing on the ground, e.g. grasshoppers (some go up the trees to sing but others chirp away right in the grass). Or domestic cats. But I think a theory can survive some exceptions.
Regarding the intimidating group behaviors: this is all the more believable because other big and social prey animals do something similar. You can find YouTube videos where a buffalo herd encounters a lion pack, the bulls start scraping the ground, lowering their horns, and generally working up each other's courage, and then attack, forcing the lions to run away. They don't do it in such perfect unison as a haka dance, but it works, more or less.
Astonishing theory. Thinking more broadly in biology, I think this lines up with various coordinated display behaviours in other species. Bees, wasps and ants engage in coordinated and communicative defence displays. Why not monkey-ants, I mean humans? I believe many social bird species also engage in noisy coordinated defence/intimidation displays.
This would make a lot of sense of the recent discoveries at Tinshemet Cave. I’ve been skeptical that burials by both modern humans and Neanderthals reflected “belief in an afterlife” which I suspect began together with rock art around 48,000 years ago, but the idea of protecting the dead from predators is convincing.
It also fits in with the idea that the great advantage of bipedalism was freeing up the hands for throwing — and that the evolutionary leap from Australopithecines to Homo erectus involved adapting the shoulders and torso for more efficient throwing.
If not very deep this is wide-ranging, gathering together many strands of human ancestry. Reading Robert Sapolsky and the original ethologist Eugène Marais might fill in some of the gaps. Humans are not unique in accompanying regular physical movement with vocalizations, and pigeons only coo when at roost. But Jordania's exploration of the role of vocalizations in attack and defense is new to me, even though as an Eng Lit major I have come across many discussions of song, dance and poetry.
Interesting essay. I don't think that the cannibalism part is likely to be accurate, because if funerary cannibalism had widespread practice throughout our evolutionary history, I would expect to see broader genetic adaptations against prion diseases across many human populations. The fact that we instead primarily see these adaptations in very specific populations with documented recent cannibalism practices (like the Fore people of Papua New Guinea) makes me think that widespread ancestral cannibalism was likely not very common. One might think that prion disease exposure requires eating brains in particular, but this is not true -- even exposure to peripheral tissue (including peripheral nerves) would lead to cumulative exposure, as seen by the fact that people who ate cow meats were exposed to prion diseases during the United Kingdom BSE outbreak.
I'm confused about one point in this theory. How is a "Audio-Visual Intimidation Display" supposed to warn off predators? Humans do not travel exclusively in herds like ungulates, and the preferred approach for all predators (human and inhuman) is usually to pick off solitary or outlying members from ambush, with the benefit of surprise. When exactly is an AVID supposed to function? Is it supposed to be deployed only during the scavenging stealing? I've never heard of anything like a haka being deployed while stealing a kill on the savanna, though. Or is the idea that the lions or jackals might be watching at night and the AVID around the campfire functions for a hidden audience?
This was quite an interesting read—thank you for introducing me to Jordania's work! As someone who can now proudly say I have my own theory about the *origins of human language, the early use of this faculty as portrayed by the AVID concept further enriches my own narrative in a beautiful way. Brilliant development, ty!
Would love to hear your follow up comments / criticisms of the book
I take this theory fully seriously. But ever since I first read it I have encountered at least some animals singing on the ground, e.g. grasshoppers (some go up the trees to sing but others chirp away right in the grass). Or domestic cats. But I think a theory can survive some exceptions.
Regarding the intimidating group behaviors: this is all the more believable because other big and social prey animals do something similar. You can find YouTube videos where a buffalo herd encounters a lion pack, the bulls start scraping the ground, lowering their horns, and generally working up each other's courage, and then attack, forcing the lions to run away. They don't do it in such perfect unison as a haka dance, but it works, more or less.
I have read this essay before. Melting Asphalt is pure joy as is Elephant in the Brain.
Astonishing theory. Thinking more broadly in biology, I think this lines up with various coordinated display behaviours in other species. Bees, wasps and ants engage in coordinated and communicative defence displays. Why not monkey-ants, I mean humans? I believe many social bird species also engage in noisy coordinated defence/intimidation displays.
This would make a lot of sense of the recent discoveries at Tinshemet Cave. I’ve been skeptical that burials by both modern humans and Neanderthals reflected “belief in an afterlife” which I suspect began together with rock art around 48,000 years ago, but the idea of protecting the dead from predators is convincing.
It also fits in with the idea that the great advantage of bipedalism was freeing up the hands for throwing — and that the evolutionary leap from Australopithecines to Homo erectus involved adapting the shoulders and torso for more efficient throwing.
https://phys.org/news/2025-03-burials-compelling-evidence-neanderthal-homo.html
If not very deep this is wide-ranging, gathering together many strands of human ancestry. Reading Robert Sapolsky and the original ethologist Eugène Marais might fill in some of the gaps. Humans are not unique in accompanying regular physical movement with vocalizations, and pigeons only coo when at roost. But Jordania's exploration of the role of vocalizations in attack and defense is new to me, even though as an Eng Lit major I have come across many discussions of song, dance and poetry.
Interesting essay. I don't think that the cannibalism part is likely to be accurate, because if funerary cannibalism had widespread practice throughout our evolutionary history, I would expect to see broader genetic adaptations against prion diseases across many human populations. The fact that we instead primarily see these adaptations in very specific populations with documented recent cannibalism practices (like the Fore people of Papua New Guinea) makes me think that widespread ancestral cannibalism was likely not very common. One might think that prion disease exposure requires eating brains in particular, but this is not true -- even exposure to peripheral tissue (including peripheral nerves) would lead to cumulative exposure, as seen by the fact that people who ate cow meats were exposed to prion diseases during the United Kingdom BSE outbreak.
I'm confused about one point in this theory. How is a "Audio-Visual Intimidation Display" supposed to warn off predators? Humans do not travel exclusively in herds like ungulates, and the preferred approach for all predators (human and inhuman) is usually to pick off solitary or outlying members from ambush, with the benefit of surprise. When exactly is an AVID supposed to function? Is it supposed to be deployed only during the scavenging stealing? I've never heard of anything like a haka being deployed while stealing a kill on the savanna, though. Or is the idea that the lions or jackals might be watching at night and the AVID around the campfire functions for a hidden audience?
This was quite an interesting read—thank you for introducing me to Jordania's work! As someone who can now proudly say I have my own theory about the *origins of human language, the early use of this faculty as portrayed by the AVID concept further enriches my own narrative in a beautiful way. Brilliant development, ty!