Oh, to travel back in time.
Researchers have unearthed yet another species of Homo, Nesher Ramla Homo. More exciting still is the fact that Nesher Ramla Homo fraternised with our very own Homo sapiens. Indeed, it appears that they shared technology in stone tool making as well as genetic material. Nesher Ramla Homo is also thought to be the forerunner of the Neanderthals. That would explain why Neanderthals carried Homo sapiens genes well before Neanderthals and Homo sapiens met up in Europe. Did they all possess consciousness? Probably. Did they have language? That’s less likely. If they did, it was probably very basic. Will we ever find out for sure? Hmmm.
Link to article: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/meet-nesher-ramla-homo-new-form-of-human-found-970snz87q
You may wish to browse other evolution posts: https://www.thesentientrobot.com/category/evolution/