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I'm just guessing, but I would bet that the smells associated with menstruation would generally make the female "available". That's not to say that there aren't deviants

Well now! That's quite a balloon floating by. We are talking about fairly recent humans. What's your evidence that they were prompted more by their noses (now a very poor source of information) than by their eyes, as they certainly are today? Eyes, and of course opportunity.
As for menstruating women being available rather than the opposite, and perhaps also downright frightening to primitive man, we needn't even go there. I'll presume you meant sexually mature women at any point in a cycle. Still, I believe she'd have smelled like whatever she was wearing. Flowers. Leather. Ideally, fur. :)

Good morning.
"What's your evidence that they were prompted more by their noses (now a very poor source of information) than by their eyes..."

It's not really possible to have evidence as to what Neanderthal would have done when he smelled a female's new ability to reproduce. We cannot know much about him beyond how he was built and a few examples of how he viewed his place in the world around him

There are examples in the animal world of several techniques being used to attract a male. A baboon might develop swollen parts which she then exposes to the available males and a distinctive smell is common to many species.

I've not read anything that shows Neanderthal making him or herself attractive to the opposite sex so, as I said, I'm just guessing that smell had a big part in announcing that there was a potential new mother in the group.

It's true that menstruation would likely have led the group to send the new woman away until things were back to normal. That was often the case until the last couple of centuries, but it also announced that she was ready. There are times in the cycle when the lady is most fertile and I would bet that smell played a major part in planting a seed. Like I said, just guessing.

Michael Frazier

Still, I believe she'd have smelled like whatever she was wearing. Flowers. Leather. Ideally, fur. :)

Body odor. Tons of it. I think pheromones were more of a factor in the old days. Call it the Ol'factor factor.