Yeah I think it's pretty inconceivable at this point that Sapiens were the first ones to have language.
I think it's still reasonable to argue that Neandertals lacked certain capacities that we have, based on differences in the evidence from tools and art that's attributed to them vs Sapiens.
But IMO this would clearly have been a difference of degree, not at atomic shift. They were obviously _people_.
I think it's still reasonable to argue that Neandertals lacked certain capacities that we have, based on differences in the evidence from tools and art that's attributed to them vs Sapiens.
But IMO this would clearly have been a difference of degree, not at atomic shift. They were obviously _people_.