Windows of a conceptual kind

How is one to investigate prehistoric events about which there is no direct evidence? This question has to be faced by all scholars studying the evolution of language. They disagree strongly about what it is that evolved, what it evolved out of, how it evolved, when and where it evolved, what it was first used for, whether it is still evolving, and related other matters. But there is consensus on the lack of direct evidence about the entities, events, processes, pressures and other factors that had a part in the first emergence and subsequent development of language in our species. It is captured in the wry quip that language does not fossilise.

The lack of direct evidence has not deterred scholars, however, from investigating the evolution of language, as is witnessed by a burgeoning body of work. On the contrary, their response has been to try to develop means of overcoming the obstacle posed by the lack of direct evidence. One of these means, the Windows Approach, is the topic of the present book. To be able to state the aims of the book, I have to set out below in broad terms what the approach involves.

The Windows Approach starts from the assumption that the evolution of language can be fruitfully studied by examining certain other phenomena about which there is direct evidence. These ‘other’ phenomena make up a varied range. They include, for instance, (fragments of) fossil skulls of our prehistoric ancestors; ancient artefacts such as stone tools, decorated bone tools, shell beads and engraved pieces of ochre; the communicative, pedagogic and ritual behaviour of modern hunter-gatherers; the communicative behaviour and cognition of non-human primates and other animals; facets of modern language such as structure, use, acquisition and variation; restricted linguistic systems such as pidgins (i.e., languages highly restricted in both vocabulary and structure, limited in their functions and typically used in contact situations only); homesign (i.e., the gestures made by deaf children to communicate with hearing, …