ABSTRACT
When early humans spotted a tiger lurking in the undergrowth near their family, it would have been in their own best interests to use some form of silent signal to warn them of imminent danger! Nonverbal communication dates back to the earliest forms of intelligible communication. Take for example the expressions ‘yuk’ or ‘eeeurr’. No doubt at some point or other you have uttered one or both of these expressions and perhaps even in a classroom – think of the decaying lunch you found in an old school-bag! Mithen (2006) observes that these expressions are found in all modern human cultures and are typically accompanied with facial expression of wrinkling the nose and pulling down the corners of the mouth – in short a look of disgust. We use these expressions when confronted with such things as vomit, faeces, spilled blood, maggots and rotting food! We promise this chapter will get better!
