I was reading about the interbreeding that occurred between modern humans and Neanderthals 50,000-120,000 years ago, and was wondering if we have any "memory" of them embedded in our folklore/legends. It's interesting to me that our species would be so closely intertwined with theirs, and then (maybe) forget about and re-discover them thousands of years later.
There's one example for ancient humans listed on the Wikipedia page for folk memory (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_memory), but I was wondering if there was more research on the topic. Thanks!
There are no instances that have convinced scholars of a folk memory of these sorts of primal indigenous populations - and that includes the Flores* example in the Wiki article of your citation - even this one is doubtful and not universally accepted. In fact, examples that are often put forward - that the fairies of Ireland and/or Britain are folk memories of smaller indigenous people - are discredited by most folklorists.
There have been some attempts to link oral narratives in Australia with rising oceans in the wake of the end of the Ice Ages - 10-12k BP, but even these examples are tenuous and put forward with some skepticism. It would be great if folk memories in narratives could reach back that far - or further - but there is no evidence that they do.