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[[File:Cartoon_illustrating_the_geological_and_taphonomic_context_and_distribution_of_fossils,_sediments_and_flowstones_within_the_Dinaledi_Chamber.jpg|thumb|An illustration of the [[Dinaledi Chamber]], in the [[Rising Star Cave]]]] |
[[File:Cartoon_illustrating_the_geological_and_taphonomic_context_and_distribution_of_fossils,_sediments_and_flowstones_within_the_Dinaledi_Chamber.jpg|thumb|An illustration of the [[Dinaledi Chamber]], in the [[Rising Star Cave]]]] |
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Since the first publication of results from the Dinaledi Chamber, there has been scholarly debate on the whether the fossils excavated from the cave provide evidence of intentional burial activity by ''H. Naledi''. If proven true, Dinaledi Chamber would be the oldest known burial, beating out the c. 78,000 year old ''H. Sapiens'' burial from [[Panga ya Saidi]] cave in Kenya by some 160,000 years.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ndiema |first=Emmanuel K. |last2=Martinón-Torres |first2=María |last3=Petraglia |first3=Michael |last4=Boivin |first4=Nicole |date=2023-06-06 |title=Major new research claims smaller-brained ‘Homo naledi’ made rock art and buried the dead. But the evidence is lacking |url=http://theconversation.com/major-new-research-claims-smaller-brained-homo-naledi-made-rock-art-and-buried-the-dead-but-the-evidence-is-lacking-207000 |access-date=2024-07-28 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Martinón-Torres |first=María |last2=d’Errico |first2=Francesco |last3=Santos |first3=Elena |last4=Álvaro Gallo |first4=Ana |last5=Amano |first5=Noel |last6=Archer |first6=William |last7=Armitage |first7=Simon J. |last8=Arsuaga |first8=Juan Luis |last9=Bermúdez de Castro |first9=José María |last10=Blinkhorn |first10=James |last11=Crowther |first11=Alison |last12=Douka |first12=Katerina |last13=Dubernet |first13=Stéphan |last14=Faulkner |first14=Patrick |last15=Fernández-Colón |first15=Pilar |date=2021-05 |title=Earliest known human burial in Africa |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03457-8 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=593 |issue=7857 |pages=95–100 |doi=10.1038/s41586-021-03457-8 |issn=1476-4687}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Davis |first1=Josh |date=5 June 2023 |title=Claims that ancient hominins buried their dead could alter our understanding of human evolution |url=https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2023/june/claims-homo-naledi-buried-their-dead-alter-our-understanding-human-evolution.html}}</ref> However, a lack of proof regarding the [[Taphonomy|taphonomic]], [[Stratigraphy|stratigraphic]], and [[Mineralogy|mineralogical]] |
Since the first publication of results from the Dinaledi Chamber, there has been scholarly debate on the whether the fossils excavated from the cave provide evidence of intentional burial activity by ''H. Naledi''. If proven true, Dinaledi Chamber would be the oldest known burial, beating out the c. 78,000 year old ''H. Sapiens'' burial from [[Panga ya Saidi]] cave in Kenya by some 160,000 years.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ndiema |first=Emmanuel K. |last2=Martinón-Torres |first2=María |last3=Petraglia |first3=Michael |last4=Boivin |first4=Nicole |date=2023-06-06 |title=Major new research claims smaller-brained ‘Homo naledi’ made rock art and buried the dead. But the evidence is lacking |url=http://theconversation.com/major-new-research-claims-smaller-brained-homo-naledi-made-rock-art-and-buried-the-dead-but-the-evidence-is-lacking-207000 |access-date=2024-07-28 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Martinón-Torres |first=María |last2=d’Errico |first2=Francesco |last3=Santos |first3=Elena |last4=Álvaro Gallo |first4=Ana |last5=Amano |first5=Noel |last6=Archer |first6=William |last7=Armitage |first7=Simon J. |last8=Arsuaga |first8=Juan Luis |last9=Bermúdez de Castro |first9=José María |last10=Blinkhorn |first10=James |last11=Crowther |first11=Alison |last12=Douka |first12=Katerina |last13=Dubernet |first13=Stéphan |last14=Faulkner |first14=Patrick |last15=Fernández-Colón |first15=Pilar |date=2021-05 |title=Earliest known human burial in Africa |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03457-8 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=593 |issue=7857 |pages=95–100 |doi=10.1038/s41586-021-03457-8 |issn=1476-4687}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Davis |first1=Josh |date=5 June 2023 |title=Claims that ancient hominins buried their dead could alter our understanding of human evolution |url=https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2023/june/claims-homo-naledi-buried-their-dead-alter-our-understanding-human-evolution.html}}</ref> However, a lack of proof regarding the [[Taphonomy|taphonomic]], [[Stratigraphy|stratigraphic]], and [[Mineralogy|mineralogical]]<nowiki/>claims made by the excavators has caused significant academic backlash. |
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In 2015, excavating archaeologists Paul Dirks, Lee Berger, and their colleagues concluded that the bodies had to have been deliberately carried and placed into the chamber by people because they appear to have been intact when they were first deposited in the chamber. They found no evidence of trauma from being dropped into the chamber nor evidence of predation. Furthermore, the chamber is inaccessible to large predators, appears to be an isolated system, and has never been flooded. Thus, they concluded that, since natural forces were apparently not at play, the bodies must have deliberately buried.<ref name=" |
In 2015, excavating archaeologists Paul Dirks, Lee Berger, and their colleagues concluded that the bodies had to have been deliberately carried and placed into the chamber by people because they appear to have been intact when they were first deposited in the chamber. They found no evidence of trauma from being dropped into the chamber nor evidence of predation. Furthermore, the chamber is inaccessible to large predators, appears to be an isolated system, and has never been flooded. Thus, they concluded that, since natural forces were apparently not at play, the bodies must have deliberately buried.<ref name="Dirks201523">{{Cite journal |last1=Dirks |first1=P.H.G.M. |last2=Berger |first2=L.R. |author-link2=Lee Rogers Berger |last3=Roberts |first3=E.M. |display-authors=etal |year=2015 |title=Geological and taphonomic context for the new hominin species ''Homo naledi'' from the Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa |journal=eLife |volume=4 |page=e09561 |doi=10.7554/eLife.09561 |pmc=4559842 |pmid=26354289 |doi-access=free}}</ref> |
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There is no hidden shaft through which people could have accidentally fallen in, and there is no evidence of some catastrophe that killed all the individuals inside the chamber. They said it is possible that the bodies were dropped down a chute and fell slowly due to irregularity and narrowness of the path down, or a soft mud cushion to land on. If they were intentionally interred, those burying them would have required artificial light to navigate the cave. The excavators claim that site was used repeatedly for burials since the bodies were not all deposited at the same time.<ref name=" |
There is no hidden shaft through which people could have accidentally fallen in, and there is no evidence of some catastrophe that killed all the individuals inside the chamber. They said it is possible that the bodies were dropped down a chute and fell slowly due to irregularity and narrowness of the path down, or a soft mud cushion to land on. If they were intentionally interred, those burying them would have required artificial light to navigate the cave. The excavators claim that site was used repeatedly for burials since the bodies were not all deposited at the same time.<ref name="Dirks201523" /> |
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In 2016, palaeoanthropologist Aurore Val countered that discounting natural forces for depositing the bodies is unjustified. She identified evidence of damage done by beetles, beetle larvae, and snails, which facilitate decomposition. Since the chamber does not present ideal conditions for snails and does not contain snail shells, she argued that decomposition began before deposition in the chamber, potentially discounting the excavators' claims of intentional burial.<ref name=" |
In 2016, palaeoanthropologist Aurore Val countered that discounting natural forces for depositing the bodies is unjustified. She identified evidence of damage done by beetles, beetle larvae, and snails, which facilitate decomposition. Since the chamber does not present ideal conditions for snails and does not contain snail shells, she argued that decomposition began before deposition in the chamber, potentially discounting the excavators' claims of intentional burial.<ref name="Val23">{{cite journal |last=Val |first=A. |year=2016 |title=Deliberate body disposal by hominins in the Dinaledi Chamber, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa? |journal=[[Journal of Human Evolution]] |volume=96 |pages=145–148 |bibcode=2016JHumE..96..145V |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.02.004 |pmid=27039664}}</ref> Invertibrate damage to the fossils was later confirmed by a 2021 analysis of a fragmentary skull, although this paper also states that it is likely that "some" hominin agency was involved in the deposition of the bone fragments.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Brophy |first1=Juliet |last2=Elliot |first2=Marina |last3=De Ruiter |first3=Darryl |last4=Bolter |first4=Debra |last5=Churchill |first5=Stevens |last6=Walker |first6=Christopher |last7=Hawks |first7=John |last8=Berger |first8=Lee |display-authors= |year=2021 |title=Immature Hominin Craniodental Remains From a New Locality in the Rising Star Cave System, South Africa |journal=PaleoAnthropology |volume=2021 |issue=1 |pages=1–14 |doi=10.48738/2021.iss1.64}}</ref> |
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In 2017, Dirks, Berger, and colleagues reaffirmed that there is no evidence of water flow into the cave and that it is more likely that the bodies were deliberately deposited into the chamber. They theorized that as it is possible that the ''H. naledi'' |
In 2017, Dirks, Berger, and colleagues reaffirmed that there is no evidence of water flow into the cave and that it is more likely that the bodies were deliberately deposited into the chamber. They theorized that as it is possible that the ''H. naledi''bones were deposited by contemporary ''Homo'', such as the ancestors of modern humans, rather than other ''H. naledi'', but that the cultural behavior of burial practices is not impossible for ''H. naledi''. They proposed that placement in the chamber may have been done to remove decaying bodies from a settlement, prevent scavengers, or as a consequence of social bonding and grief.<ref name="BergerHawks201723">{{cite journal |last1=Berger |first1=L.R. |author1-link=Lee Rogers Berger |last2=Hawks |first2=J.D. |author-link2=John D. Hawks |last3=Dirks |first3=P.H.G.M. |last4=Elliott |first4=M. |last5=Roberts |first5=E.M. |year=2017 |title=''Homo naledi'' and Pleistocene hominin evolution in subequatorial Africa |journal=[[eLife]] |volume=6 |doi=10.7554/eLife.24234 |pmc=5423770 |pmid=28483041 |doi-access=free}}</ref> |
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During ongoing excavations in 2018, researchers began to hypothesize that Homo naledi engaged in burial practices.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} In 2018, anthropologist Charles Egeland and colleagues echoed Val's arguments and stated that there is insufficient evidence to conclude that such an early hominid species had developed a concept of [[afterlife]] as often associated with burials. They said that the preservation of the Dinaledi individuals is similar to those of baboon carcasses that accumulate in larger caves, either by natural death of cave-dwelling baboons or by a leopard dragging carcasses into caves.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Egeland |first1=C. P. |last2=Domínguez-Rodrigo |first2=M. |last3=Pickering |first3=T. R. |display-authors=et al. |year=2018 |title=Hominin skeletal part abundances and claims of deliberate disposal of corpses in the Middle Pleistocene |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=115 |issue=18 |pages=4601–4606 |bibcode=2018PNAS..115.4601E |doi=10.1073/pnas.1718678115 |pmc=5939076 |pmid=29610322 |doi-access=free}}</ref> |
During ongoing excavations in 2018, researchers began to hypothesize that Homo naledi engaged in burial practices.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} In 2018, anthropologist Charles Egeland and colleagues echoed Val's arguments and stated that there is insufficient evidence to conclude that such an early hominid species had developed a concept of [[afterlife]] as often associated with burials. They said that the preservation of the Dinaledi individuals is similar to those of baboon carcasses that accumulate in larger caves, either by natural death of cave-dwelling baboons or by a leopard dragging carcasses into caves.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Egeland |first1=C. P. |last2=Domínguez-Rodrigo |first2=M. |last3=Pickering |first3=T. R. |display-authors=et al. |year=2018 |title=Hominin skeletal part abundances and claims of deliberate disposal of corpses in the Middle Pleistocene |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=115 |issue=18 |pages=4601–4606 |bibcode=2018PNAS..115.4601E |doi=10.1073/pnas.1718678115 |pmc=5939076 |pmid=29610322 |doi-access=free}}</ref> |
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Their hypothesis was substantiated and further reinforced in July 2022 when Berger and his team discovered skeletal remains of ''H. naledi'' near carvings on the cave walls.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} These carvings include geometrical shapes and a symbol composed of two cross-hatching equal signs. Although the excavating archaeologists have stated that they have found evidence for fire, they have yet to publish this evidence.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOtX_Bcs_F4 |title=The Future of Exploration in the Greatest Age of Exploration - Dr. Lee R. Berger |date=2022-12-02 |last=Carnegie Science |access-date=2024-07-28 |via=YouTube}}</ref> Other paleontologists remained deeply skeptical due to the inadequate anatomical and sedimentological evidence in support of the burial assertion.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Callaway |first1=Ewen |date=25 July 2023 |title=Sharp criticism of controversial ancient-human claims tests eLife's revamped peer-review model |journal=Nature |volume=620 |issue=7972 |pages=13–14 |bibcode=2023Natur.620...13C |doi=10.1038/d41586-023-02415-w |pmid=37495786 |s2cid=260201327}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Foecke |first1=K. K. |last2=Queffelec |first2=A. |last3=Pickering |first3=R. |year=2024 |title=No Sedimentological Evidence for Deliberate Burial by ''Homo naledi'' - A Case Study Highlighting the Need for Best Practices in Geochemical Studies Within Archaeology and Paleoanthropology |url=https://paleoanthropology.org/ojs/index.php/paleo/libraryFiles/downloadPublic/25 |journal=PaleoAnthropology}}</ref> |
Their hypothesis was substantiated and further reinforced in July 2022 when Berger and his team discovered skeletal remains of ''H. naledi'' near carvings on the cave walls.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} These carvings include geometrical shapes and a symbol composed of two cross-hatching equal signs. Although the excavating archaeologists have stated that they have found evidence for fire, they have yet to publish this evidence.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOtX_Bcs_F4 |title=The Future of Exploration in the Greatest Age of Exploration - Dr. Lee R. Berger |date=2022-12-02 |last=Carnegie Science |access-date=2024-07-28 |via=YouTube}}</ref> Other paleontologists remained deeply skeptical due to the inadequate anatomical and sedimentological evidence in support of the burial assertion.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Callaway |first1=Ewen |date=25 July 2023 |title=Sharp criticism of controversial ancient-human claims tests eLife's revamped peer-review model |journal=Nature |volume=620 |issue=7972 |pages=13–14 |bibcode=2023Natur.620...13C |doi=10.1038/d41586-023-02415-w |pmid=37495786 |s2cid=260201327}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Foecke |first1=K. K. |last2=Queffelec |first2=A. |last3=Pickering |first3=R. |year=2024 |title=No Sedimentological Evidence for Deliberate Burial by ''Homo naledi'' - A Case Study Highlighting the Need for Best Practices in Geochemical Studies Within Archaeology and Paleoanthropology |url=https://paleoanthropology.org/ojs/index.php/paleo/libraryFiles/downloadPublic/25 |journal=PaleoAnthropology}}</ref> |
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In 2023, the authors published three papers as [[Preprint|preprints]].<ref name=":0">{{Citation |last=Berger |first=Lee R. |title=Evidence for deliberate burial of the dead by Homo naledi |date=2023-06-05 |url=https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.01.543127v1 |access-date=2024-07-28 |language=en |doi=10.1101/2023.06.01.543127 |last2=Makhubela |first2=Tebogo |last3=Molopyane |first3=Keneiloe |last4=Krüger |first4=Ashley |last5=Randolph-Quinney |first5=Patrick |last6=Elliott |first6=Marina |last7=Peixotto |first7=Becca |last8=Fuentes |first8=Agustín |last9=Tafforeau |first9=Paul}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Berger |first=Lee R. |title=241,000 to 335,000 Years Old Rock Engravings Made by Homo naledi in the Rising Star Cave system, South Africa |date=2023-06-05 |url=https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.01.543133v1 |access-date=2024-07-28 |language=en |doi=10.1101/2023.06.01.543133 |last2=Hawks |first2=John |last3=Fuentes |first3=Agustin |last4=Rooyen |first4=Dirk van |last5=Tsikoane |first5=Mathabela |last6=Ramalepa |first6=Maropeng |last7=Nkwe |first7=Samuel |last8=Molopyane |first8=Keneiloe}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Fuentes |first=Agustin |title=Burials and engravings in a small-brained hominin, Homo naledi, from the late Pleistocene: contexts and evolutionary implications |date=2023-06-05 |url=https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.01.543135v1 |access-date=2024-07-28 |language=en |doi=10.1101/2023.06.01.543135 |last2=Kissel |first2=Marc |last3=Spikins |first3=Penny |last4=Molopyane |first4=Keneiloe |last5=Hawks |first5=John |last6=Berger |first6=Lee R.}}</ref> These articles have not undergone peer review, although reviewer statements were published alongside them. The reviewer statements were extremely critical. For one paper, the journal-provided summary of reviewer statements outlined that: |
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In 2023, the authors published three papers as [[Preprint|preprints]]. These articles have not undergone peer review, although reviewer statements were published alongside them. The reviewer statements were extremely critical. For one paper, the eLife assessment stated that: |
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{{Quote|text=The four reviewers were in strong consensus that the methods, data, and analyses do not support the primary conclusions. Without full excavations, the study is missing crucial geoarchaeology (especially micromorphology) and taphonomic components, among other limitations, that make premature the conclusion that H. naledi intentionally buried their dead.|author=eLife assessment|title=Evidence for deliberate burial of the dead by Homo naledi}} |
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A peer review from another paper stated that: |
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{{Quote|text=The work presented by the authors is imprudent and incomplete and does not meet the requirements set forth by our discipline. While it is important that scholars publish their work in a dutiful timeline, it is arguably more critical for scholars to take the necessary time to ensure the integrity and resolution of the work.|author=Reviewer #2 (anonymous)|title=Burials and engravings in a small-brained hominin, Homo naledi, from the late Pleistocene: contexts and evolutionary implications}} |
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In spite of this criticism, the papers were released alongside a Netflix documentary titled ''Unknown: Cave of Bones''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Netflix |title=Unknown: Cave of Bones |url=https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81473682 |access-date=July 28 2024 |website=Netflix Media Center}}</ref> |
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An article released in 2024 reflected criticized the mineralogical backbone to Berger ''et al''<nowiki/>'s claims. Berger's original geochemical analyses purported to show a difference between the soil directly surrounding the fossils and that of further away.<ref name=":0" /> This paper reanalyzed the data and found no significant difference between the two. The authors also pointed out problems in plotting and that Berger ''et al'' appear to have [[Plagiarism|plagiarized]] a 2017 blog post intended to educate students describing the correct use of principal components analysis—although the source material is incorrect |
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Revision as of 19:46, 28 July 2024
Possible burials
Since the first publication of results from the Dinaledi Chamber, there has been scholarly debate on the whether the fossils excavated from the cave provide evidence of intentional burial activity by H. Naledi. If proven true, Dinaledi Chamber would be the oldest known burial, beating out the c. 78,000 year old H. Sapiens burial from Panga ya Saidi cave in Kenya by some 160,000 years.[1][2][3] However, a lack of proof regarding the taphonomic, stratigraphic, and mineralogicalclaims made by the excavators has caused significant academic backlash.
In 2015, excavating archaeologists Paul Dirks, Lee Berger, and their colleagues concluded that the bodies had to have been deliberately carried and placed into the chamber by people because they appear to have been intact when they were first deposited in the chamber. They found no evidence of trauma from being dropped into the chamber nor evidence of predation. Furthermore, the chamber is inaccessible to large predators, appears to be an isolated system, and has never been flooded. Thus, they concluded that, since natural forces were apparently not at play, the bodies must have deliberately buried.[4]
There is no hidden shaft through which people could have accidentally fallen in, and there is no evidence of some catastrophe that killed all the individuals inside the chamber. They said it is possible that the bodies were dropped down a chute and fell slowly due to irregularity and narrowness of the path down, or a soft mud cushion to land on. If they were intentionally interred, those burying them would have required artificial light to navigate the cave. The excavators claim that site was used repeatedly for burials since the bodies were not all deposited at the same time.[4]
In 2016, palaeoanthropologist Aurore Val countered that discounting natural forces for depositing the bodies is unjustified. She identified evidence of damage done by beetles, beetle larvae, and snails, which facilitate decomposition. Since the chamber does not present ideal conditions for snails and does not contain snail shells, she argued that decomposition began before deposition in the chamber, potentially discounting the excavators' claims of intentional burial.[5] Invertibrate damage to the fossils was later confirmed by a 2021 analysis of a fragmentary skull, although this paper also states that it is likely that "some" hominin agency was involved in the deposition of the bone fragments.[6]
In 2017, Dirks, Berger, and colleagues reaffirmed that there is no evidence of water flow into the cave and that it is more likely that the bodies were deliberately deposited into the chamber. They theorized that as it is possible that the H. naledibones were deposited by contemporary Homo, such as the ancestors of modern humans, rather than other H. naledi, but that the cultural behavior of burial practices is not impossible for H. naledi. They proposed that placement in the chamber may have been done to remove decaying bodies from a settlement, prevent scavengers, or as a consequence of social bonding and grief.[7]
During ongoing excavations in 2018, researchers began to hypothesize that Homo naledi engaged in burial practices.[citation needed] In 2018, anthropologist Charles Egeland and colleagues echoed Val's arguments and stated that there is insufficient evidence to conclude that such an early hominid species had developed a concept of afterlife as often associated with burials. They said that the preservation of the Dinaledi individuals is similar to those of baboon carcasses that accumulate in larger caves, either by natural death of cave-dwelling baboons or by a leopard dragging carcasses into caves.[8]
Their hypothesis was substantiated and further reinforced in July 2022 when Berger and his team discovered skeletal remains of H. naledi near carvings on the cave walls.[citation needed] These carvings include geometrical shapes and a symbol composed of two cross-hatching equal signs. Although the excavating archaeologists have stated that they have found evidence for fire, they have yet to publish this evidence.[9] Other paleontologists remained deeply skeptical due to the inadequate anatomical and sedimentological evidence in support of the burial assertion.[10][11]
In 2023, the authors published three papers as preprints.[12][13][14] These articles have not undergone peer review, although reviewer statements were published alongside them. The reviewer statements were extremely critical. For one paper, the journal-provided summary of reviewer statements outlined that:
The four reviewers were in strong consensus that the methods, data, and analyses do not support the primary conclusions. Without full excavations, the study is missing crucial geoarchaeology (especially micromorphology) and taphonomic components, among other limitations, that make premature the conclusion that H. naledi intentionally buried their dead.
— eLife assessment, Evidence for deliberate burial of the dead by Homo naledi
A peer review from another paper stated that:
The work presented by the authors is imprudent and incomplete and does not meet the requirements set forth by our discipline. While it is important that scholars publish their work in a dutiful timeline, it is arguably more critical for scholars to take the necessary time to ensure the integrity and resolution of the work.
— Reviewer #2 (anonymous), Burials and engravings in a small-brained hominin, Homo naledi, from the late Pleistocene: contexts and evolutionary implications
In spite of this criticism, the papers were released alongside a Netflix documentary titled Unknown: Cave of Bones.[15]
An article released in 2024 reflected criticized the mineralogical backbone to Berger et al's claims. Berger's original geochemical analyses purported to show a difference between the soil directly surrounding the fossils and that of further away.[12] This paper reanalyzed the data and found no significant difference between the two. The authors also pointed out problems in plotting and that Berger et al appear to have plagiarized a 2017 blog post intended to educate students describing the correct use of principal components analysis—although the source material is incorrect
- ^ Ndiema, Emmanuel K.; Martinón-Torres, María; Petraglia, Michael; Boivin, Nicole (2023-06-06). "Major new research claims smaller-brained 'Homo naledi' made rock art and buried the dead. But the evidence is lacking". The Conversation. Retrieved 2024-07-28.
- ^ Martinón-Torres, María; d’Errico, Francesco; Santos, Elena; Álvaro Gallo, Ana; Amano, Noel; Archer, William; Armitage, Simon J.; Arsuaga, Juan Luis; Bermúdez de Castro, José María; Blinkhorn, James; Crowther, Alison; Douka, Katerina; Dubernet, Stéphan; Faulkner, Patrick; Fernández-Colón, Pilar (2021-05). "Earliest known human burial in Africa". Nature. 593 (7857): 95–100. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03457-8. ISSN 1476-4687.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Davis, Josh (5 June 2023). "Claims that ancient hominins buried their dead could alter our understanding of human evolution".
- ^ a b Dirks, P.H.G.M.; Berger, L.R.; Roberts, E.M.; et al. (2015). "Geological and taphonomic context for the new hominin species Homo naledi from the Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa". eLife. 4: e09561. doi:10.7554/eLife.09561. PMC 4559842. PMID 26354289.
- ^ Val, A. (2016). "Deliberate body disposal by hominins in the Dinaledi Chamber, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa?". Journal of Human Evolution. 96: 145–148. Bibcode:2016JHumE..96..145V. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.02.004. PMID 27039664.
- ^ Brophy, Juliet; Elliot, Marina; De Ruiter, Darryl; Bolter, Debra; Churchill, Stevens; Walker, Christopher; Hawks, John; Berger, Lee (2021). "Immature Hominin Craniodental Remains From a New Locality in the Rising Star Cave System, South Africa". PaleoAnthropology. 2021 (1): 1–14. doi:10.48738/2021.iss1.64.
- ^ Berger, L.R.; Hawks, J.D.; Dirks, P.H.G.M.; Elliott, M.; Roberts, E.M. (2017). "Homo naledi and Pleistocene hominin evolution in subequatorial Africa". eLife. 6. doi:10.7554/eLife.24234. PMC 5423770. PMID 28483041.
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