Human evolution: no language development (Introduction)

by David Turell , Tuesday, November 28, 2023, 23:36 (150 days ago) @ David Turell

Until colonization in Vanuatu:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/an-ancient-art-form-topples-assumptions-abou...

"My investigation took me further than I could have imagined. By watching expert sand artists, learning about their methods, collecting drawings and history and exploring the work of 20th-century ethnologists, I have developed a mathematical model of sand drawing. My work shows that these artworks can be modeled as the result of algorithms and operations of an algebraic nature. Indeed, mathematical language turns out to be appropriate for describing the work of sand drawing experts. Furthermore, sand drawing can help us understand the relationships that Vanuatu societies maintain with their environment.

"Vanuatu is an archipelago with a population of some 315,000 people spread throughout 83 islands. The country has the highest linguistic density in the world, with 138 vernacular languages. The two official languages taught in school are French and English. Bislama, or bichlamar, an Anglo-Melanesian pidgin used in Vanuatu, is the common language.

"Cultures vary in the north and south of the country and even within the same island. The sand drawing practice is widespread only in some central islands, for example. Although the tradition is reminiscent of drawings done on soil in Tamil Nadu, India, it is unique in many ways. In 2008 UNESCO classified the sand drawing of Vanuatu as part of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

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"Although it is difficult to know how many designs are in use, it is clear that, over time, new ones appear, and others disappear. A system very close to intellectual property protects these drawings, making access to this traditional knowledge sometimes sensitive and challenging.

"These artworks are multidimensional in their significance. Some iconic drawings of animals, insects or plants are closely linked with the beliefs, cosmogonies, social organization or even traditions of these societies—which are grouped together under the generic name of kastom. The drawings can also support narratives; they reveal the ethical or political dimensions of societies in central Vanuatu. In many cases, each design bears a vernacular name related to these different aspects.

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"Ascher observed that in the sand drawings, the line traced in the sand was comparable to a graph whose vertices included all the crossings created in the pattern. The edges were all the arcs between those vertices. These graphs were also Eulerian, meaning that the sand artist had to visit each edge only once and had to return to a starting point. Ascher also documented the number of edges per vertex, which mathematicians call the “degree” of the vertex. This was important because, according to Euler’s theorem, created by mathematician Carl Hierholzer, a connected graph is Eulerian only if each vertex has an even degree.

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"Today these societies recognize this practice as a traditional graphic art that helps people recall ritual, religious and environmental knowledge. In addition, Jief Todali, a chief whom I met in the Raga region, explained to me that the artists are spokespeople: “Before the arrival of the tuturani [the white foreigners], the people of northern Pentecost did not know how to speak. They expressed themselves through drawings that they traced on the ground with their fingers. Instead of people, the rocks, the stones, the ground of the hills and valleys, the wind, the rain, the water of the sea spoke. But now the situation is reversed. It is the people who speak, and the earth, the wind, the rain and the sea are silent. Now [the people from the Raga region] sometimes say, ‘We have to speak for the land because it can no longer speak for itself.’” (my bold)

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[b"From beginners to experts, everyone follows a set of “rules.” Because these communities have an oral tradition, there is no written record, [/b] (my bold)

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"These results raise questions about the universality of mathematics and the form that math takes in other cultures. They open up perspectives for teaching mathematics as well. Since 2010 the acquisition of traditional knowledge such as sand drawing has been one of the objectives of Vanuatu schools, and it is part of a larger movement to decolonize education, much like efforts in Hawaii and in the French territory of New Caledonia. In the current school curriculum, however, no link is made between sand drawing and mathematics. To that end, Vanuatuan Pierre Metsan, a doctoral student in education at the University of New Caledonia, is studying whether the practice of sand drawing could support mathematics instruction. We can look forward to what he learns from this investigation in the years to come."

Comment: amazing that these Pacific Island folk had no real language until white explorers came, but had these mathematically correct sand diagrams, which underlying math was unknown to them. I would think there was some form of oral communication, but no real formal language before the English and French arrived. I'm sure Pidgin developed quickly since 138 dialects emerged.