Scientists in South Africa have announced the discovery of the world’s oldest-known burial site, challenging existing notions of human evolution.
Led by renowned palaeoanthropologist Lee Berger, the team of researchers unearthed multiple specimens of Homo naledi, a Stone Age hominid previously considered incapable of complex behavior.
The burial site was found in a cave system within the Cradle of Humankind, a UNESCO World Heritage Site near Johannesburg. The remains were buried approximately 30 meters (100 feet) underground.
According to the scientists, these interments are the earliest recorded in the hominin record, predating Homo sapiens burials by at least 100,000 years.
This finding challenges the conventional belief that complex activities such as burial were enabled by the development of larger brains. Previous burials discovered in the Middle East and Africa were approximately 100,000 years old and belonged to Homo sapiens.
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Homo naledi, a primitive species situated between apes and modern humans, had small brains roughly the size of oranges and stood about 1.5 meters (5 feet) tall.
With tool-wielding hands and feet adapted for walking, this discovery overturns the linear evolutionary model that had been widely accepted. The species was first found in 2013 in the “Rising Star” cave system, which inspired its name.
Berger, an American explorer heading the research team, emphasized the significance of the discovery, stating that it reveals our species is not as unique as previously believed.
The findings are set to be published in eLife, but they have not yet undergone peer review. There is still much more to be uncovered about the ancient burial practices and the implications they hold for our understanding of human evolution.
