"The great problem with all the Neanderthal art is that they are one-offs. What is different about the art of modern humans when it appears 35,000 years ago is that there is repetition - animal sculptures and paintings done over and over again in a recognisable style."With Neanderthals, there may have been the odd da Vinci-like genius, but their talents died with them."
I've long been a believer that it was not the thoughts of Neanderthals which were crude, but their means of expressing them. Without a decent language, how can one hope to pass on any but the simplest techniques, be it art, hunting, or attracting mates. Instinctive (whatever that means, anyhow, a priori) behavior would be far more common among creatures which did not or could not communicate effectively.
Now, evidence for the incapacity of Neanderthals for language has always seemed rather speculative to me, especially after the discovery that, yes, they did have a hyoid bone. But incapacity aside, lesser capacity seems to me to explain a great deal about them--their evolutionary underperformance compared to us, for example. The singular nature of most Neanderthal art strengthens this view.
