Question

Passage A
For decades, the dominant narrative in paleoanthropology painted Neanderthals as cognitive underachievers, incapable of the abstract thought and symbolic representation that defined our own species, *Homo sapiens*. However, this paradigm has undergone a dramatic shift, driven by breakthroughs in dating technology. The application of uranium-thorium dating to carbonate crusts overlying cave art in Spain has provided minimum ages of 64,000 years for red linear motifs, hand stencils, and painted stalagmites. Because these dates precede the arrival of anatomically modern humans in Europe by at least 20,000 years, the creators of this art could only have been Neanderthals.

This discovery carries profound evolutionary implications. Symbolic expression—the ability to represent concepts, beliefs, or social identity through physical mediums—was long considered a unique hallmark of modern human behavior. By demonstrating that Neanderthals also engaged in cave painting, the archaeological record suggests that the cognitive foundations of symbolic thought were not a late mutation unique to *Homo sapiens*. Instead, these capacities likely emerged much earlier in our shared evolutionary history, perhaps inherited from a common ancestor such as *Homo heidelbergensis* over 500,000 years ago.

Critics have long argued that Neanderthals merely mimicked the behaviors of modern humans with whom they interacted. The Spanish cave paintings decisively refute this "acculturation hypothesis" by establishing that Neanderthal symbolic behavior was independent and long-standing. Cave art is not merely decoration; it is a structured, shared visual language that implies complex social systems and communication. To paint a hand stencil is to make an assertion of self-awareness and belonging. The realization that Neanderthals shared this cognitive landscape forces us to abandon our species-centric bias and recognize that our extinct cousins possessed a mind structurally and functionally comparable to our own, capable of navigating the abstract world of symbols.

Passage B
While cave paintings capture the public imagination, other archaeological finds offer equally compelling insights into the Neanderthal mind. Across Europe, researchers have uncovered raptor talons modified with cut marks, perforated seashells stained with red ochre, and deliberately arranged burials. These artifacts, dating to periods before and during early human-Neanderthal contact, suggest a rich material culture that served symbolic functions. Raptor talons, for instance, were likely strung as personal ornaments, signifying status or group identity, while burials containing grave goods indicate a conceptualization of death that transcends mere disposal of a corpse.

However, recognizing that Neanderthals engaged in symbolic behavior does not mean their cognitive world was identical to that of *Homo sapiens*. Cognitive evolution is rarely linear. It is highly probable that Neanderthals developed symbolic frameworks that were distinct from ours, tailored to their specific ecological niches and social dynamics. Neanderthal groups were typically smaller and more isolated than those of early modern humans. Consequently, their symbolic systems may have functioned primarily at the local or group level, rather than as part of the vast, inter-regional trade and social networks characteristic of *Homo sapiens*.

Thus, the debate should shift from *whether* Neanderthals possessed symbolic capacity to *how* that capacity was structured. The presence of personal adornments and ritualistic behaviors proves they lived in a world mediated by meaning, not just survival. Whether these practices arose independently, were shared from a common ancestor, or occurred through sporadic interactions, they demonstrate that the capacity for abstraction is a broader hominin trait rather than a unique *Homo sapiens* monopoly. Acknowledging this does not diminish the unique trajectory of modern humans, but it does integrate Neanderthals into the broader human story of symbolic cognitive development.

Based on the two passages, with which of the following statements regarding the cognitive capabilities of Neanderthals would the authors of both Passage A and Passage B agree?