People have been very smart for a very long time. Treating our progenitors as anything less is simply wrong IMO.
We recognize that man's limits extend waaaaaaaay beyond any ape.
We recognize that an ape does not progress beyond the nature around him...unless one is systematically taught.
Even so, an ape cannot achieve man's intelligence.
Since so called "evolution" cannot stand still, it would seem that some ape, somewhere, here on earth would be still evolving toward being a man.
I always wonder how many times human civilizations rose and fell before our latest burst of growth and advancement during the climatological stability of the last 3,000 years.
People think I’m a bit crazy when I suggest that much of humanity’s history is probably buried under tons of water on the continental shelves.