A recent study difficulties previous claims that Homo naledi, a types going back to between 335-241,000 years earlier, deliberately buried their dead and created rock art in Rising Star Cave, South Africa. Experts in various fields argue that the proof is not strong enough to support these assertions, mentioning a need for more extensive scientific analysis and documentation.Recent research challenges the assertions that Homo naledi, an ancient human relative with a smaller brain going back to 335-241,000 years earlier, purposefully buried their departed and developed rock art in Rising Star Cave, South Africa.Three pre-print articles published in 2023 in eLife suggested the current excavations at the Rising Star Cave system offered evidence of at least three burial functions, 2 in the Dinaledi Chamber and a third in the Hill Antechamber cavity.The posts declared the features represented the earliest evidence of purposeful burial by a hominin species, and that Homo naledi illuminated dark passageways using fire and deliberately carried the bodies of a minimum of three people deep inside the Rising Star Cave system, dug pits, deposited corpses inside the pits, and covered the bodies with sediments.It was likewise claimed that the Hill Antechamber feature consisted of a stone tool in close proximity to the hominin hand.Detail of the dissolution procedures in the cracks, translated as inscriptions by Berger et al. (2023b), however clearly natural in other cases. Credit: ElsevierScholarly Critique and AnalysisHowever, a group of prominent specialists with specializations in biological sociology, archaeology, rock, and geochronology art, have now called for a much deeper dig into the science behind the findings in an initially, peer-reviewed critique released in the Journal of Human Evolution (JHE). Teacher Michael Petraglia from Griffith Universitys Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Professor Andy Herries from La Trobe University, María Martinón-Torres from the National Research Center on Human Evolution in Spain, and Diego Garate from the University of Cantabria in Spain co-authored the peer-reviewed article.Reevaluation of the EvidenceThe research study group concluded the evidence presented up until now was not engaging sufficient to support the purposeful burial of the dead by Homo naledi, nor that they made the supposed inscriptions.” We truly need significant additional documentation and clinical analyses before we can dismiss that post-depositional procedures and natural agents were accountable for the build-up of bodies/body parts and to prove the intentional excavation and filling of pits by Homo naledi,” Professor Martinón-Torres said.Moreover, Professor Petraglia added: “Unfortunately, there is an unique possibility that the so-called stone artifact beside the hominin hand is a geofact, and not a product of stone tool flaking by Homo naledi.” Professor Herries said: “There is no evidence that Homo naledi lit fires in the cave, purported burying locations might simply be from manganese staining and charcoal within the cavern remains to be dated. Charcoal from natural fires is not uncommon in caves.”” Detailed analyses are also required to demonstrate that the so-called engravings are indeed human-made marks, as marks like these can be produced as a product of natural weathering or animal claws,” said Dr. Garate.The JHE commentary also uses a short insight on the state of the field concerning the importance of accountable social interaction and the obstacles brought by new designs of scientific publication.Reference: “No scientific evidence that Homo naledi buried their dead and produced rock art” by María Martinón-Torres, Diego Garate, Andy I.R. Herries and Michael D. Petraglia, 10 November 2023, Journal of Human Evolution.DOI: 10.1016/ j.jhevol.2023.103464.
