Homo Naledi

June 10, 2023

Context:

Recently, palaeontologists in South Africa said they have found the oldest known burial site in the world, containing remains of a small-brained distant relative of humans previously thought incapable of complex behaviour.

About the discovery:

Researchers said they discovered several specimens of Homo naledi — a tree-climbing, Stone Age hominid — buried about 30 metres (100 feet) underground in a cave system within the Cradle of Humankind, a UNESCO world heritage site near Johannesburg.
These are the most ancient interments yet recorded in the hominin record, earlier than evidence of Homo sapiens interments by at least 100,000 years.
- The oldest burials previously unearthed, found in the Middle East and Africa, contained the remains of Homo sapiens
The findings challenge the current understanding of human evolution, as it is normally held that the development of bigger brains allowed for the performing of complex, “meaning-making” activities such as burying the dead.

Homo Naledi:

It is a primitive species at the crossroads between apes and modern humans.
It had brains about the size of oranges i.e. 450 to 600 cubic centimetres. – just one-third of that of modern humans and stood about 1.5 metres (five feet) tall.
It had curved fingers and toes, tool-wielding hands and feet made for walking.
Their shoulders were built for climbing and their teeth were shaped like that of older primates.
Homo naledi is named after the “Rising Star” cave system where the first bones were found in 2013.
Homo naledi was capable of complex emotional and cognitive behaviour.