Neanderthals

What do Christians think of Neanderthals? Do they not consider them human? 
I wonder if the religious contradictions explain why many anthropologists are so adamant that Neanderthals were not capable of symbolic thought, and therefore not human. Whatever the reason, some anthropologists have vigorously opposed any suggestion that Neanderthals wore any kind of jewelry or created any kind of decoration or images, and thus were not human.

Up until now they have been able to cast doubt on any finds that link Neanderthals with such artifacts.... up until now. Just recently a chap named Joao Zilhao (try saying that quickly 10 times) dug up unequivocal evidence, in a site in Spain, of Neanderthal symbolism (ie body paint and jewelry), 50,000 years ago.

The conclusions resulting from this are of the "career-altering" kind for anthropologists.

For example.

• If Neanderthals could think symbolically, then they were mentally on par with "behaviorally-modern humans".

• Given that fact, you have to ask how and when did they acquire that level of mental ability.

• They either developed it independently 50,000 ya, or it was present in the common ancestor of both humans and Neanderthals many years before that.

Both possibilities have significant consequences.

• The independent scenario would mean that humans probably acquired the use of jewelry etc., by imitating the Neanderthals since humans did not exhibit these characteristics 50,000 ya, before leaving Africa, but the Neanderthals did.

• The common ancestor theory, is equally troubling because it pushes back the emergence of "behaviorally-modern" humans to earlier than 200,000 ya... (many careers have been built upon that occurrence being only 50,000 ya)

 It is amazing what two little holes in a sea shell and a bit of pigment can do to bring down years of well fortified theory.