I think it was the use of the word "beings" that got to me. Modern humans are complex, look at was else was happening at the times cited in the article ( http://agt.net/public/dgarneau/euro54.htm ).Even if these people were not as "advanced" as Western Europe or Asia they were still complex. Using "beings" makes them sound like some of our pre-modern ancestors.

I do agree with the general point of the article, though.