Possibly the oldest cemetery found – Homo naledi buried his dead there

Paleontologists say they have discovered the world’s oldest cemetery in South Africa. The research team, led by renowned paleoanthropologist Lee Berger, found several specimens of prehistoric man Homo naledi at a depth of 30 meters in the Unesco World Heritage “Cradle of Mankind”, a cave system near Johannesburg. In addition, the researchers found evidence that Homo naledi carved symbols in cave walls.

These are the “oldest documented burials” in the history of the humanoids, writes the team. The humanoids include all species of the genus homo including the homo sapiens – the only surviving species of this genus – as well as their extinct ancestors. According to paleoanthropologists, the cemeteries are “at least 100,000 years older” than those of homo sapienswhich had previously been found in the Middle East and Africa and are about 100,000 years old.

The results are described in three studies accepted for publication in the journal eLife. The preprints of the work are available on BioRxiv.

The new finds could change the way people view human evolution, as such complex behaviors have so far only been associated with the homo sapiens – modern humans – and Neanderthals (Homo Neanderthalensis) have been associated, but whose brains are significantly larger.

fossils of Homo naledi were found in Rising Star Cave in 2013 and dated in 2017 to be between 236,000 and 335,000 years old. Thus he could be a contemporary of the “archaic” homo sapiensie the first representative of our species. Homo naledi had a brain the size of an orange and was about five feet tall, could use tools, and walk upright on two legs. The discovery of this species turned the idea of ​​a linear human evolutionary history on its head.

The current finds are oval holes that the scientists say were deliberately dug and then filled in to cover the bodies. Inside were found the remains of at least five individuals – adults and children – who had been placed in the fetal position.

Other graves were dug horizontally into sloping walls. The bodies were then placed there. It’s not about individuals who died there from a cave-in or were washed there – the bodies were placed there and covered with soil. They had decomposed in the grave itself.

The scientists also found a number of symbols carved into the cave walls. Their age is estimated at 241,000 to 335,000 years, but further research is needed for more precise dating. The symbols consist of deeply incised crosshatches and other geometric shapes.

This is reminiscent of similar symbols found in other caves and from early 80,000 years ago homo sapiens and carved by Neanderthals 60,000 years ago. They probably served to record and pass on information.

“These new findings point to intentional burials, the use of symbols and meaningful activities of the Homo naledi over there. It seems an inescapable conclusion that, when combined, they suggest that these cerebellar species of primitive human relatives engaged in complex death-related practices,” Berger commented on the findings. “That would mean not only that humans are not unique in developing symbolic practices, but that they may not even have invented such behavior.”

However, Berger is controversial in the scientific community. The 57-year-old has been accused of a lack of scientific rigor and a tendency to jump to conclusions. So he got criticized because of dem Homo naledi To admit abilities for which his brain was deemed too small. In the new study, Berger again rejects the idea that “everything is related to this big brain.” (mr/sda/afp)