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
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.
