NO. EARLIER VARIATIONS IN OUR GENETIC ANCESTRY WEREN’T SMARTER. There is no evid

NO. EARLIER VARIATIONS IN OUR GENETIC ANCESTRY WEREN’T SMARTER.
There is no evidence of higher intelligence in earlier humans. None at all. There is a constant awareness of neanderthal and cro-magnon cranial volume, but shrinkage is a product of neoteny (domestication syndrome). Effectively (AFAIK) the larger brain helps with caloric and chemical resources that allow for impulsivity, aggression, and persistence of interest or aggression.
But there is no doubt that our brains are more competent than theirs precisely because of domestication syndrome: domestication biases intelligence in favor of cooperation rather than individual action. Then neoteny preserves tolerance for and learning about novelty (and apparently curiosity persistence related to novelty).
So the result is higher intelligence because cooperation and domestication are more likely to express and retain innovations and adaptations especially at scale. Whether the ‘hardware’ between wolves and dogs is mechanically smarter or not in some way is an open question because it is a matter of adaptation to the environment. Dogs socialized with US. Socially they’re much smarter. But wolves don’t give up.