A team of paleontologists in South Africa has discovered what is believed to be the oldest-known burial site in the world. Led by renowned paleoanthropologist Lee Berger, the researchers found several specimens of Homo naledi, a distant relative of humans with a small brain size.
The remains were found deep underground in a cave system within the Cradle of Humankind, a UNESCO World Heritage Site near Johannesburg. This discovery challenges the current understanding of human evolution, as it was previously thought that complex behaviors such as burying the dead were only performed by species with larger brains.
The burial site dates back to at least 200,000 BC, making it older than any previously discovered human burials. The findings suggest that mortuary practices were not limited to Homo sapiens or species with larger brains. Further research is still needed to uncover more about Homo naledi and its complex behaviors.
