Paleoneurology and paleogenetics highlight differences in the development and genetic substrate of Neanderthal and modern brains. However, reconstructing Neanderthal cognitive abilities remains a difficult exercise that has generally not avoided the pitfalls encountered in this kind of endeavor. Researchers have often projected modern interpretations onto Neanderthal behaviours, looking for similarities rather than differences. This is the case, for example, with the interpretation of Neanderthal burials, which remain rare and simple (centered on the body) compared to those of modern Upper Palaeolithic man.
It is above all a "general intelligence" that we have sought to apprehend, rather than favoring a modular approach. When particular behavioral traits have been analyzed, it is generally their presence or absence, rather than their frequency or complexity, that has been emphasized. Inevitably, we have most often relied on material achievements, particularly those of carved stone tools, and on strategies for exploiting the environment (object-centered intelligence and conceptual intelligence). Social intelligence ("Machiavellian"), linguistic intelligence and, above all, the integration of these modules with one another remained inaccessible.
