did prehistoric humans have the same intellectual capacity as modern humans?

Question

for example: if you were to kidnap a prehistoric human baby and give it an education, would it be as smart as a regular human?

In: Biology

Answer 1

Humans arrived in Australia at least 50,000 years ago – and have the same intellectual capacity as other modern humans (there is some suggestion they have a slightly higher IQ). Their ancestors must have left Africa maybe 80,000 years ago. Anatomically modern human fossils in Africa date back at least 150,000 years and probably more like 200,000. Neanderthals had language and complex tools – and they split from the modern lineage maybe 600,000 years back. So chances are the average human that far back was in the same intellectual ball park as us.

Further back, there’s probably a steady diminution as you go back through the human lineage.