Seems like we've gotten a little off topic - we're talking about tool origin when the original question seems to be: "were Neandertals inferior or superior?"
While Neandertals had larger cranial capacity, does this equate to "intelligence"?
Unfortunately, we still know extremely little about the human mind.
Does a bigger brain mean a smarter animal? In a general sense, I would guess that that is correct, but I'm sure any zoologist could give me a list of "small smart" animals that would run mental circles around, say, cows.
Also, it serves our purpose to consider the terms "inferior" and "superior". What criteria are we basing this on? SAT scores?
If we're asking about ability to survive the Ice Age, clearly Neandertal is far superior.
If we're asking about ability to adapt to changing enviornments, ability to compete over resources, or complexity of social structure - well, the jury is still out.
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