If Neanderthals and Sapiens were separate species

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

11. Homo sapiens did not branch off from Neanderthals.

We had a common ancestor 300,000 to 700,000 years ago. So we are (were) more or less cousins.

We have learned an enormous amount about Neanderthals in recent years. I highly recommend Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death, and Art by Rebecca Wrag Sykes. She points out that most of what we know about them comes from bones and stones. Almost nothing else that they had or used or made has survived. But what we've been able to glean from bones and stones, as well as some DNA testing, is remarkable.