MIGHT THIS ACTUALLY BE HOMO NALEDI ROCK ART?

Possible Homo naledi rock art panel. Rising Star Cave, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa. Image by ABC News.

Pretty much anyone who is interested in archaeology has heard of the 2015 discovery of the new hominin species Homo naledi by Lee Berger. I am not going to take in the time and space here to go through the whole story of their discovery. For the few of you who do not know about Homo naledi there is a wealth of information online, or in my references below.

“Some 25 miles outside of Johannesburg, South Africa, there is a famous paleoanthropological site known as the Cradle of Humankind. So many hominin bones were found in the region that it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1999. Among the many limestone caves in the region is the Rising Star cave, where cavers discovered fossils representing a new hominin speciies, Homo naledi, in 2015. Only H. naledi remains were found in the cave, suggesting the possibility that the bodies had been placed there deliberately, although this hypothesis proved to be a bit controversial.” (Oullette 2023) The whole point of this is that H. naledi had a brain one-third the size of a human brain. It was roughly the size of a chimpanzee brain which suggests that  behavior such as deliberately placing the body of a deceased member in a chamber of the cave was unexpected to say the least.

Close-up of Panel A, possible Homo naledi rock art panel. Rising Star Cave, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa. Image by ABC News.

“Now the same expedition team has announced the discovery of H. naledi bodies deposited in fetal positions, indication intentional burials. This predates the earliest known burials by Homo sapiens by at least 100,000 years, suggesting that brain size might not be the definitive factor behind such complex behavior. The team also found crosshatched symbols engraved on the walls of the cave that could date as far back as 241,000 – 335,000 years, although testing is still ongoing.” (Oullette 2035) Now this is even more perplexing, this creature was scooping out a rough depression in the soil in the cave and placing the body in a fetal position. This is not just depositing the body in a cave, this suggests some sort of ceremonial or ritual behavior. And now, add to that the fact that purposely produced markings were made on the cave walls by this being at that early date and we have a remarkable discovery.

“We are facing a remarkable discovery here’ for a species with brains one-third the size of humans, said anthropologist Lee Berger, who led the research funded by the National Geographic Society, where he now works. Berger and colleagues describe their findings in studies posted online Monday. The research has not been peer-reviewed yet and some outside scientists think more evidence is needed to challenge what we know about how humans evolved their complex thinking.” (Burakoff 2035) Apparently that capacity existed in our evolutionary line far earlier than we realized.

“The interments predate the earliest known Homo sapiens burials by at least 100,000 years, making the Rising Star burials some of the most ancient in the hominin record and indicating that burials might not have been limited to H. sapiens or other hominins with larger brain sizes.” (National Geographic Blog 2023) The fact that some of the bodies were placed in a fetal position in a scooped out depression suggests ritual or ceremonial treatment.

“The oldest known H. sapiens grave dates to about 78,300 years ago in Africa. Contested Neandertal graves in Iraqi Kurdistan are roughly 70,000 to 60,000 years old. In South Africa’s Blombos Cave, a crosshatched design on a rock dates to around 73,000 years ago and geometric patterns incised on pigment pieces date to as early as about 100,000 years ago.” (Bower 2023)

Another possible Homo naledi rock art panel. Rising Star Cave, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa. Image by Nat. Geo.

Now, as to the rock art, the cross-hatching patterns are not in and of themselves very interesting, but, the fact that they may have been created by hominins 300,000 years ago certainly is. And, in the one view there are what appear to be some pretty interesting geometrics on the left side.

“There’s still a lot to uncover,’ said Rick Potts, director of the Smithsonian’s Human Origins Program who was not involved in the research. H. naledi is a pretty new addition to the family tree of hominins, which includes our direct ancestors and other extinct relatives who walked on two legs. Berger and his team announced the species in 2015, after a tip from local spelunkers led them to the Rising Star cave system near Johannesburg where they discovered fossils from at least 15 individuals who lived around 300,000 years ago. These creatures had some traits in common with modern humans, like legs made for walking upright and hands that could work with objects, said University of Wisconsin-Madison anthropologist John Hawks, a member of the research team. But other features looked more ancient, including their small brains.” (Burakoff 2035)

We know that chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus) are aware of death, and even seem to grieve for lost friends and family members, but as far as we know they would not be capable of the sort of ritual behavior that H. naledi has expressed in their treatment of their dead, as well as their marking the cave wall. As far as I know there have never been any reports of chimps or bonobos creating rock art. Can it be possible that there is a difference in the cognitive processes between the Hominid line and the Pan line that existed that far back in our prehistory. Do these markings in some way refer to their dead friends and relatives whom they ritually interred nearby? Is this, perhaps, the difference that would have once been referred to as our soul?

NOTE: Some images in this posting were retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on these reports you should read the original reports at the sites listed below.

REFERENCES:

Bower, Bruce, 2023, Homo naledi were burying their dead at least 100,000 years before humans, https://www.sciencenews.org. Accessed online 5 June 2023.

Burakoff, Maddie, 2023, Small-brained ancient human cousins may have buried their dead, according to a surprising study, 5 June 2023, https://news.yahoo.com. Accessed online 5 June 2023.

National Geographic Blog, 2023, New Evidence Suggests Intentional Burials and Use of Symbols by Other Hominins Hundreds of Thousands of Years Before Homo Sapiens, 5 June 2023, https://blog.nationalgeographic.org. Accessed online 5 June 2023.

Ouellette, Jennifer, 2023, Homo naledi were burying their dead at least 100,000 years before humans, 5 June 2023, https://arstechnica.com. Accessed online 5 June 2023.