The Rising Star cave system is a tangle of tunnels located within South Africa ’s Cradle of Humankind , which is one of the richest have it away fossil hominin sites in the humans . In 2013 , researcher exploring the minute passages stumbled upon what they believe to be aburial chamberin an region bang as Dragon ’s Back . Burial chambers are nothing new , but one install by a group of mini hominins that live 250,000 days before it was believed early man began make graves and graphics ? That sure was something .
The new speciesHomo nalediwas announce in 2015 by a team led by Professor Lee Berger of Witwatersrand University following the find of an astonishing 15 individuals in the Rising Star Cave . The species overlap withHomo sapiensand had a perplexing mix of primitive and modern characteristics , with similar hands and understructure to us but brains comparable to that of a chimpanzee .
However , whetherH. naledimarked the offset of the conception of an afterlife among our bipedal antecedent has become the issue ofheated debate . The theme that they were practicing funerary ritual at a prison term when even our own ancestors were n’t has been tough for some to grapple with , while others paint a picture the “ carvings ” find here may be the final result of geological processes creating fissures in the rock .
Crawling into the Rising Star Cave required a group of “underground astronauts” capable of squeezing through its narrow tunnels.Image credit: Animalparty, derived from: Geological map and cross-section of the Rising Star cave system,CC BY-SA 4.0, viaWikimedia Commons
As the star of a recent Netflix documentary , theH. nalediburial chamber debate has reenergized – but it ’s not all the Rising Star Cave is famous for . The significant archeological site is situate near the town of Krugersdorp in the Gauteng responsibility of South Africa , a blank space that ’s no unusual todeep cave arrangement , being the home of the world’sdeepest mine .
However , unlike the Mponeng Au mine that relies on lift - similar shaft to ferry miners 4 kilometer ( 2.5 miles ) into the ground , The Rising Star Cave is a lot harder to access . The fib of shin head - first into the dark through17.5 - centimeter(6.9 - column inch ) gaps make for tense reading , but a team of “ hush-hush astronauts ” successfully embarked on the precarious 200 - meter ( 656 - understructure ) clamber to find the remains .
In the destruction , 1,500 fogey from at least 15 individuals were retrieved from a tiny space nicknamed “ the puzzle box seat ” for the direction the bones were stacked on one another like Jenga . By the end of their first week , Berger and confrere “ had more individuals than ever before in the entire account of human origins,”Berger said .
The geological and taphonomic context and distribution of fossils, sediments and flowstones within the Dinaledi Chamber where the H. naledi individuals were found.Image credit:Paul H. G. M. Dirks et al,CC BY 4.0, viaWikimedia Commons
In visible light of the gossamer volume of discovery made in The Rising Star cave , some find the public speculation regarding burial practices among these hominins has take away from the real value of the site .
“ Rising Star is such a great site and the naledi material is so wonderful that there was really no need to over - egg the pud , ” said Prof Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum , London , toThe Guardian . “ It ’s going to stimulate problems of credibility in future , which may even affect support for more work . ”
Researchers delving into the electronic web of narrow passages also found grounds of fires deep within the cave system , marked by burned animal bone and knoll of charcoal . Whether these were produce byH. naledior a former specie is n’t know for certain , but it would be an account for how they or later human ancestors were navigating such a dour and hard - to - access habitat .
While the public debate surroundingHomo nalediand The Rising Star cave heave on , so too do exploration into the tortuous cave system . Fingers crossed we ’ll have a refreshed surfeit of archaeological grounds to fight over shortly .
