[thatfrenchguy]

> sat around a rock grunting at each other

Seems crazy to me, given anyone with children that is exposed to multiple languages can easily imagine how complex the language scene must have been in humans that did not write, given how easy and natural it is for little ones to pick up different languages that they speak with different people.

[datameta]

Most likely even Heidelbergensis had "complex grunting" and hand signs so humans in the neolithic are effectively identical to us in language capability.