I thought the film was beautiful and evocative, but I don't know much about the neolithic era. It seemed that the people in the film regarded the paintings as fine art, but is that a legitimate category for the time (or could we even know)? Also, I wanted more detail regarding the claim that Neanderthals didn't produce art (e.g., Venus statuettes). What actual evidence rules out Neanderthal cave painting? I realise I'm asking several different questions here, but any answers would be welcomed. Thank you.
There are no cave paintings or statues that exist from Neanderthal times, and so it is that information that is the basis for the belief that Neanderthals had no art. Always possible something will be discovered later. We do see some Neanderthal burials, so at least some Neanderthals buried their dead. The concept of "fine art" is a modern distinction, and is an anachronistic imposition on ancient art. We do not know the purpose of the cave paintings, but can speculate. There may have been multiple reasons. After all, while we focus typically on illustrations of animals, there are many other types of illustrations. For example, there are tracings of hands and also small, sometimes abstract symbols for genitalia, and other abstract things we do not yet know the purpose of.
hi! this question would be worth x-posting to /r/AskAnthropology; while there are a few anthropologists here, this question is reaching very far back into pre-history