Deliberate Disposal of the Dead

Deliberate Disposal of the Dead: A Hallmark of Humanity?

• Deliberate body disposal is considered a cultural universal among humans, stemming from their hyper-social design and strong social bonds.
• Humans depend on each other for survival due to a lack of natural defenses, with social bonds driving funerary practices.
• Neanderthals and their ancestors, with human-sized brains, also deliberately disposed of their dead.
• The question is whether any other animal species besides humans and Neanderthals deliberately dispose of their dead.

Homo Naledi Discovery in the Rising Star Cave System

• Rising Star cave system, located in the Cradle of Humankind in South Africa, is rich in hominin fossils.
• A deep chamber within this system, named Dinaledi, contained over 1800 fossils representing at least 15 individuals of a new human ancestor, Homo Naledi.
• The research team suggests Homo Naledi deliberately disposed of their dead in the Dinaledi chamber, challenging the uniqueness of human nature.
• Homo Naledi exhibits a mix of primitive ape-like features and advanced human-like features.
• Homo Naledi had body sizes similar to small-bodied humans, with a brain size of only 550 cubic centimeters, less than half that of modern humans.

Accessing the Dinaledi Chamber: Extreme Difficulty

• Access to the Dinaledi chamber is long, winding, narrow and difficult, requiring belly crawling through a 10-inch high squeeze called the "Superman's Crawl".
• The route includes navigating a large rocky structure known as the "Dragon's Back," a 40-foot climb.
• The final access point is a 50-foot deep, very narrow fissure called the "chute", only eight inches wide at its narrowest.
• The chute has always been this difficult to get through since the chamber formed.

Unique Composition of the Dinaledi Chamber

• Unlike other fossil caves in South Africa, Dinaledi contains only the remains of Homo Naledi, with no other animal fossils present.
• Absence of other animal remains differentiates it from other fossil caves.
• This exclusive presence of Homo Naledi remains requires explanation.

Ruling Out Alternative Explanations for the Presence of Homo Naledi Remains

• Occupation: No evidence of stone tools, meals, or cultural debris within the chamber.
• Lack of evidence for artificial light or fire, making occupation unlikely.
• Water Action: Geological evidence indicates water has never flowed through the Dinaledi chamber.
• The Dragon's Back formation has effectively blocked any water from ever getting into that chamber.
• Carnivore Activity: No tooth marks, punctures, crushing, or damage on the bones to suggest carnivore involvement.
• Carnivores would not be able to navigate the difficult climb and narrow chute.
• Accidental Deaths: Geology indicates multiple depositional episodes over many years, making repeated accidental deaths unlikely.

Evidence Supporting Deliberate Disposal

• The Dinaledi chamber represents the most unique depositional setting in South Africa, suggesting a cemetery-like function.
• Human cemeteries also have an overabundance of very young in very old individuals, the most vulnerable members of a group.
• The presence of almost every bone in the body represented, complete and articulated, indicate little morphological variability, which support this theory.
• Remains look similar because they are related to each other; it is suggested that homo Naledi derived from a single homo Naledi group.

Counterarguments and Rebuttals

• Easier Access in the Past: No geological evidence of another entry point; sediment, bone, wash, etc doesn't exist
• Just getting rid of rotting corpses: Easier to simply walk away from the corpses and dispose of them anywhere else.
• Homo Naledi were murdered by humans: Dental ad chamber predates the earliest appearance of Homo sapiens anywhere in Africa, so it does not align.

Conclusion: Homo Naledi and Deliberate Body Disposal

• The most likely explanation is that Homo Naledi systematically disposed of their dead in the Dinaledi chamber.
• The process involved taking the deceased through the cave system requiring artificial light to navigate through the Superman's crawl, dragging or pushing the bodies into the chute.
• This behavior suggests complex social bonds and a possible understanding of mortality, despite having a small brain.
• The discovery challenges the notion that deliberate body disposal is exclusive to humans, suggesting it may be shared with other species.
• Homo Naledi may have been the first to find the Dinaledi chamber, and somebody of Homo Naledi with a brain the size of a large orange explored the rising starch system