Homo Naledi: The First Burials?

The Ancients

History Hit

History

4.7 • 4.5K Ratings

🗓️ 20 July 2023

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Uncovered a decade ago in the Rising Star Cave system in South Africa, Homo Naledi's discovery has impacted paleoanthropology in ways nobody could expect. Upon first discovery, it was assumed this small brained hominid lived millions of years ago - yet when dating of the fossil's was completed, it transpired that Homo Naledi lived at the same time as early Homo Sapiens. So what does this mean for human evolution, and why (and how) were these fossils found so deep inside the Rising Star Cave system?

In this episode Tristan welcomes both Dr Lee Berger, and Professor Chris Stringer, to the podcast to talk about the discovery of Homo Naledi, and what it means for paleo-anthropologists and archaeologists around the world. Looking at the wall engravings, charred animal bones, and charcoal discovered - is there evidence that these small brained ancestors had complex thoughts and actions, or is there more yet to be discovered?

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Ancients from History Hit.
0:02.7	To listen to all of our episodes Add Free and watch hundreds of history documentaries
0:07.6	downloads the History Hit app, we'll go to historyhit.com forward slash subscribe.
0:14.0	And if you're an Apple listener, you can subscribe for new Add Free episodes within the app.
0:30.6	In 2013, one of the most exciting discoveries in the field of human evolution was made deep
0:38.8	in a cave system in South Africa. Hundreds of fossils were discovered, belonging to an
0:44.8	ancient species of the Homo genus, a small-brained human relative until then unknown.
0:52.0	Homo Naledi. There has been a lot of interest around Homo Naledi over the past decade,
0:58.5	as more and more work on the fossils has been done, but it's also fair to say that this story
1:04.5	has its fair share of controversy right now. The amazing team that have been excavating the
1:09.3	fossils have made some massive claims. They believe that they've discovered evidence of burial.
1:15.8	That Homo Naledi deliberately buried their dead in this chamber more than 100,000 years ago.
1:22.4	Now this is a big statement. Beryl, until now, was something that was only associated with a
1:29.6	large-brained humans. The claim that a small-brained hominin had the complexity of thought to do
1:35.5	such an act has been met with skepticism. However, regardless of the ongoing debate,
1:41.6	the largest story of Homo Naledi, the discovery, the remains, the mystery,
1:46.4	well it's absolutely incredible. And so in today's episode, we're doing something special.
1:52.0	The line share of it will be an interview with Dr. Lee Berger, a paleoanthropologist who has been
1:57.1	leading the Homo Naledi excavations in the rising star cave system. Lee is here to tell the
2:03.1	story behind what we know so far about Homo Naledi, and why he is convinced that his team have found
2:10.0	evidence that these hominins were burying their dead more than 100,000 years ago.
2:15.9	Following this, we have a quick chat with a great friend of the podcast and a leading light in
	...

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