[Graymatter]

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.

I feel confident in saying that he would have done the same thing he'd have done when he smelled a knothole in a maple tree. And it's highly doubtful that Neandertal Man had any grasp of the notion of ability to reproduce. Even if he had, as far as I've ever been able to determine, the scent of a "new ability" of a female to reproduce is not what turns a male on.
What went through his 1500cc head was probably...
Female---check.
Alone---check.
I can overpower her---check.
Age, smell, and what happens nine months later, they were all well beside the point. Quite often they still are.

[brazzaville]

Good afternoon.
"I feel confident in saying that he would have done the same thing he'd have done when he smelled a knothole in a maple tree."

I'm glad you are confident.

I've seen animals lift their heads and smell the breeze when there is a female in season in the vicinity, followed by the lad beating feet in the right direction. More to the point, I know my response to the scent of soap and woman and I don't have to see her to respond.

The reality is that we don't know what Neanderthal understood about reproduction, and you are ignoring the evidence of the body's ability to react to it's senses.

"Age, smell, and what happens nine months later, they were all well beside the point. Quite often they still are."

That's true, but we could address the age part if we stated hanging pedophiles.

Michael Frazier