The Language Puzzle: Piecing Together the Six-Million-Year Story of How Words Evolved

A top scholar reveals the most complete picture to date of how early human speech led to the languages we use today  

The invention of language began with the apelike calls of our earliest ancestors. Today, the world is home to thousands of complex languages. Yet exactly how, when, and why this evolution occurred has been one of the most enduring—and contentiously debated—questions in science.  

In The Language Puzzle, renowned archaeologist Steven Mithen puts forward a groundbreaking new account of the origins of language. Scientists have gained new insights into the first humans of 2.8 million years ago, and how numerous species flourished but only one, Homo sapiens, survives today. Drawing from this work and synthesizing research across archaeology, psychology, linguistics, genetics, and more, Mithen details a step-by-step explanation of how our human ancestors transitioned from apelike calls to words, and from words to language as we use it today. He explores how language shaped our cognition and vice versa; how metaphor advanced Homo sapiens’ ability to formulate abstract concepts, develop agriculture, and—ultimately—shape the world. The result is a master narrative that builds bridges between disciplines, stuns with its breadth and depth, and spans millennia of societal development.

Deeply researched and brilliantly told, The Language Puzzle marks a seminal understanding of the evolution of language.

About the Author

Steven Mithen is professor of early prehistory at the University of Reading and is one of the most esteemed archaeologists working today. He has authored over two hundred academic articles and books, including After the Ice and The Singing Neanderthals, and was elected as a fellow of the British Academy in 2004. He lives in Reading, England.