I thought the consensus was Neanderthals were just as intelligent as humans.
It’s just humans reproduced faster. So even though Neanderthals were stronger, their population was just sustainable compared to the cancer like expansion of humans.
Reminds me of the phone cleaners from Hitchhikers Guide…
I also remember reading in an article like this that there is not much of a difference between modern and neanderthal age brains as well, the difference is a longer recorded history and accumulated knowledge
That’s like we used to think early hominids all lived in caves, because that’s where we kept finding remains…
It took way to long to realize that’s just where conditions were best for remains and artifacts to stay preserved.
Most didn’t live in caves, if anything they were more like emergency shelters than every day homes.
I always imagined early hominids were just like us. Some were smarter, some less so. One of them might have a brilliant idea and invent some stuff like that adhesive, teaches his group about it. The only difference today is the spread of information. It’s not that we’re smarter, it’s that we’ve hugely improved our ability to share knowledge.
True: demography seems key.
To my frustration, the media still loves to frame any new information on the Palaeolithic against the outdated frame that Neanderthals were dumb.
No matter how much you insist Neanderthals are interesting in their own right, it always ends up with a comparison to “us”.
Go read Dawn of Humanity if you want your mind blown about early man.
