Stuff you should know has a nice little podcast episode about this. It's probably not as scientific as this, but they delve into the unwarranted belittling of neanderthals that most people have.

I believe they discussed some cave art that was made by neanderthals in spain way before sapiens arrived in the area proving that it was their art instead of a just a mimic which seems to align with what this article was discussing.

https://podcasts.apple.com/la/podcast/what-happened-to-the-n...