Kinda why I’m going with pre-civilization. While we don’t know if neanderthals or the other humanoids recognized anything but biological sex (that I’m aware of anyway) they’re now known to be more compassionate than portrayed when I was growing up. My fursona is a druid, so no coal factories or microplastics is a good trade off for having to hunt your own dinner. The fact that so many bones have been found with near-fatal but somewhat healed injuries also means that those kind cared for the wounded enough, despite them not being able to help hunt or protect the group, that they survived what would cause an animal to starve to death or be easy food over. That right there is a damn sight better than the healthcare where I live already.