Background: Neandertals were intelligence, capable, well-meaning fellows who happened to get wiped out, partly by climate change, whilst Sapiens-types succeeded in varied environments, including tropical-to-temperate and savanna, and including pockets of extreme conditions. Over the many years I have been looking at Neandertal, I have come to the conclusion that they were spiritual, communicative and artistic - and way before ever suspected by scientists, which is now being born out. Not to say that this new scientific observation needs be correct, but it appears that, judging from the skull, Neandertal was somewhat wanting in memory, articulation and planning, compared to Sapiens. Well, imagine these loving, spiritual beings, trying to make it in a changing world, in competition (and some cooperation) with Sapiens. What I think they may have been relatively lacking was the ability to draw dream-lines and song-lines of memory and travel across the land, because of these deficiencies. By intermingling with Sapiens, this may have been the emergence of the true Aboriginal culture, which successfully emigrated into and out of Australia. I am saying the ability to dream-line emerged out of a mixing of Neandertal and Sapiens brains and cognition - where memory, articulation (song) and planning (travelling, fire), were all exercised and grown. You don't see too much history of dream-walking, etc., in evidence from prehistoric N. Asia, Africa, etc.
However, I do believe that the dream-walking approach to travel may have been a fundamental evolution of human awareness and technology, probably partly shared by other races going way, way back. But I think it started first from the Neandertal mix. So, look for it in the prehistory of those populations where the Neandertal genetic percentage is highest.
Dream-walking is a kind of animalismic, subconscious connexion to the environment/s. It is a memory and planning device, as well as music. From my studies, I have additionally theorised that Neandertal was probably highly mathematical, almost as if they were high-end autistic. Dream-walking probably includes a component of deep latent, discrete awareness of 'mathematics' in the world of existence. From this, directly or indirectly, there emerged a strong world movement of building, remembering, planning and singing according to the movements of the stars and planets. I think this movement challenges the supposed glory of our own present civilisation, and I think it manly sprang from Neandertal! That being said, although Sapiens might not have prevailed without it, it certainly would not have survived outside of Sapiens, who had a whole bag of tricks of his own. And, THAT being said, both species (or subspecies) were more alike and related than not. One may have excelled in one area, but that does not mean the other species entirely lacked the same ability. And, in some cases, the small amount of interbreeding may have resulted in, along with the many mistakes, some abilities or capacities which were superior to those of either Sapiens or Neandertal alone.
I like to imagine dream-walking first coming about as a kind of awakening into new horizons, by descendants of both species, (mostly Sapiens!), acquired from the meeting of the two.
Note that I trace a rough line from Sapiens descendants of Neandertal all the way to Freemasonry, but all that is for other posts, in the future, before they catch me, and feed me to the ants.
Note: Research the ff for upcoming posts: Ley lines; My somewhat recent post called "The Shape of Consciousness'. You might find the former doing an internet search, and the latter via one of my tags listed above (consciousness).