Lee Berger is an American paleoanthropologist based in South Africa. Two years ago, he and his team of researchers from the University of Witwatersrand analyzed vestiges found in a South African cave called Rising Star. These are the remains of a species that lived between 335,000 and 245,000 years before our era and whose brain is three times smaller than ours. Despite these differences, the species called Homo Naledi would be the cause of a complex funeral ritual. Genre’s extinguished members Homothey would have mixed primitive features similar to those of Australopithecus with others much more modern found in Homo Sapiens.
Only, the results did not convince everyone: the four anonymous researchers responsible for assessing the validity of research has also remained skeptical. Lee Berger did not give up and it was at the beginning of 2024 that he and his team published an updated version of their study. Two of their peers agreed to re -examine the data and one of the two ended up changing their mind. According to the online media New Scientist, caution remains in order.
If Homo Naledi has actually buried his dead, this would question our understanding of the intelligence and behavior of the first members of the human race. An archaeological site also presents many points in common with the South African cave Rising Star: the Sima of Los Huesos, in the north of Spain. Archaeologists have found the remains of at least twenty-nine hominines related to Neanderthals, intentionally deposited at the bottom of a well. The bodies would have been transported from another place, providing one of the oldest clues of funeral behavior.
Although these gestures may seem distant to us, they appear logical in their context. Chimpanzees, for example, show interest in their dead fellows by grooming them or cleaning their teeth. British archaeologist Paul Pettitt thus underlines that if the chimpanzees behave in this way, similar behaviors could very well exist earlier in our line. According to María Martinón-Torres, from the National Center for Research on Human Evolution (Cenieh), the choice of a specific location to bring together the bodies is not trivial and testifies to a new intention in these hominines.
An evolving advantage?
Taking care of the deceased may have represented an evolutionary advantage. According to Paul Pettitt, hominids have acquired the awareness of their mortality with the increase in their brain size. The first funeral rites could have appealed the anxiety linked to death while strengthening the cohesion of the group. In Sima de los huesos, individuals had a cranial capacity close to modern humans (around 1,237 cc).
The ancestors of the Neanderthals, discovered in Sima, then developed other ways of honoring their dead. In the Shanidar cave, Iraq, at least ten Neanderthals were buried. One of them survived serious injuries, proving that he had been treated, which testifies to a form of solidarity within the group. Several bodies found in the same place suggest the sacralization of burials, a close phenomenon of our modern practices according to the anthropologist Emma Pomroy.
An evolving science
However, the low number of known Neanderthal cavities questions: if the burial was common, why do we find it so little? Some researchers argue that there were perhaps other rites … such as cannibalism.
The deliberate burial at Homo Sapiens dates back to 120,000-100,000 years before our era. Some tombs contain objects, but it is difficult to know if they were offerings or simply digging tools. Before 28,000 years, these practices remain rare and their uncertain meanings. The first burials discovered in Kenya mainly contained children. In 2021, the remains of a child, dated to 78,000 years, were found buried in this country, testifying to the strong infant mortality and the importance given to these deceased young people.
The debate on funeral practices at Homo Naledi is far from buried. In the Rising Star cave, bodies were discovered buried, sometimes accompanied by objects, which could evoke offerings. The recurrence of these deposits suggests a specific use of the place, but a point remains enigmatic: with a brain of only 513 cc on average, was Homo Naledi capable of consciousness of death or empathy?
Nothing shows for the moment that this species treated its patients or had a link with its disappeared, which makes the hypothesis of a funeral ritual both fascinating and difficult to confirm. The identification of these behaviors in such ancient species remains arduous: most burials are altered by time, complicating the work of researchers. However, the excavations continue and the Rising Star cave has not yet delivered all its secrets.
