Theory of mind is also what allows us to understand death in a particular way.

To recognize that the person who died experienced the world from the inside, that they had an existence that has now ended, that this ending is distinct from sleep or absence — this recognition is grounded in theory of mind.

If Neanderthals had robust theory of mind — and the evidence for their social complexity, including the care of disabled individuals, the possible funerary behavior, and the symbolic practices they may have engaged in, is consistent with this — then their understanding of death would not necessarily be primitive or reduced.

It might have been something we would recognize as genuine grief and genuine recognition of loss.