Palaeoanthropologists have uncovered evidence that suggests that Homo naledi, an extinct human species that lived hundreds of thousands of years ago, may have buried their dead and carved meaningful symbols in a cave.
Key points
- These behaviours were thought to be unique to our own species – Homo sapiens – and the Neanderthals.
- While we already know a lot about the Neanderthals, Homo naledi are a recent discovery.
- Lee Berger, who is a palaeoanthropologist at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, recovered more than 1,500 fossil specimens belonging to 15 individual species in the Rising Star cave system in South Africa in 2014.
- They are believed to have existed between 300,000 to 200,000 years a ton.
