Text: Gizmodo. “A creepy 15th century language experiment took place on this island.” https://gizmodo.com/a-creepy-15th-century-language-experiment-took-place-on-1484724484

Extract: “when [King James IV of Scotland] decided he wanted to find out what the “original” language of human beings was, he came up with an interesting experiment. He took two babies, and a woman who was deaf and mute, and marooned them all on Inchkeith Island. His idea was that the woman would raise the children in silence until they were old enough to start talking, at which point people would find out what language they spoke.”

Some questions about the origin of language “can’t be answered” in modern experiments because of ethical issues. The experiment in the article above would definitely not be allowed to be conducted today.