Headscratchers / Quest for Fire

• Why are the Wagabu called neanderthals in BTS material? I have seen two behind the scenes documentaries that identify the Wagabu as neanderthals and it just doesn't make an sense. As early as 1920,◊ the hairy and ape-like image of the neanderthal had been retired. By the 1970s, they were viewed as an intelligent subspecies of Homo sapiens. There was a whole TV show that aired on ABC from September 7, 1974, to August 30, 1975 that depicted neanderthals more or less like the Ulam in the film. Even the book which was published in 1911 didn't portray any of the primitive humans like this (the Blue-haired men don't count because they are clearly non-human apes). If anything, the Wagabu resemble contemporary depictions of australopithecines. So why would a film as well-researched as Quest for Fire make such an obvious mistake? and if they didn't, why were the BTS documentaries allowed to make such an embarrassing misidentification?
  • The Ulam's freaking cave is based on Le Moustier! The quintissential neanderthal site!