for a long time, people have wondered whether neanderthals could talk. many people believe they could, because the large brain size would be hard to understand if they could not. when an undamaged neanderthal hyoid bone was discovered, it made people think neanderthals could talk. that is because, in humans, the hyoid is a support for the voice box. computer analysis has shown that the neanderthal hyoid was very similar to human hyoids. researchers say "our findings are consistent with a capacity for speech in the neanderthals".