Anthropology

Remains in a South African cave system predate the oldest known human burials by about 160,000 years or more

Will Sullivan

June 7, 2023 3:46 p.m.



Paleontologist Lee Berger, who led the new research, walks in the Rising Star cave system in South Africa, where the possible burial sites were uncovered. Luca Sola / AFP via Getty Images


The ritual of burying the dead could be much older than thought: In South Africa’s Rising Star cave system, paleontologists found what they say is a burial site of our ancient ancestors, Homo naledi, according to new research.

If confirmed, it would mean these extinct human relatives intentionally buried their dead long before Homo sapiens did. Previously, only humans and Neanderthals have been known to bury their dead.

The study was posted on the preprint server bioRxiv on Monday. This and two other papers describing the findings are currently under peer review at the journal eLife, a journal spokesperson tells the New York Times’ Carl Zimmer.

Rick Potts, a paleoanthropologist at Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History who was not involved with the study, isn’t yet convinced by the findings. “There’s still a lot to uncover,” he tells Maddie Burakoff of the Associated Press (AP).

However, other scientists are more persuaded by the new research. “I might have been one of those people who’s been skeptical about the idea that a small-brained creature like Homo naledi could be going deep into the cave to dispose of its dead,” Chris Stringer, an anthropologist at the Natural History Museum in London who did not participate in the research, tells National Geographic’s Kristin Romey. “But I have to say, on the amount I’ve seen so far, that yes, it does change my view on the balance of probability.”

More:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/ancient-human-relatives-may-have-buried-their-dead-180982308/