Oldest graves in history potentially discovered in South Africa

In a fetal position and curled up in niches buried at the end of a network of narrow galleries, some thirty meters underground, distant human relatives were found in a state of fossils in burials during excavations launched in 2018. found that the tombs were covered with earth dug at the beginning to form holes, which they believe is evidence that the bodies of these dolei were buried voluntarily.

“These are the oldest hominid burials ever recorded, predating those of Homo sapiens by at least 100,000 years.”says the team of scientists in a series of preliminary papers that have yet to be peer-reviewed for publication in a scientific journal. electronic life. The excavations were carried out at the Cradle of Humankind paleontological site, a UNESCO World Heritage site located northwest of Johannesburg.

The oldest tombs discovered so far, especially in the Middle East and Kenya, date back to around 100,000 BC and contain the remains of Homo sapiens. Burials in South Africa date from -200,000 to -300,000 years ago. They contain the bones of Homo naledi (“star” in the local language), a small hominid about 1.50 m high and with a brain the size of an orange.

The species, the discovery of which in 2013 by the American paleoanthropologist Lee Berger has already cast doubt on the linear indications of the evolution of Mankind, still remains a mystery to scientists. Endowed with both traits of creatures that are millions of years old, such as primitive teeth and climbing feet, Homo naledi was also endowed with legs similar to ours and hands capable of wielding tools.

“These results indicate that burial practices were not limited to Homo sapiens or other large-brained hominids.”, scientists say. This theory, which goes against the conventional wisdom that death consciousness and its practices create the human, was already put forward by Lee Berger when he introduced Homo naledi to the world in 2015.

Then this hypothesis caused an uproar, and many experts questioned the scientific rigor of the American media, supported by National Geography. “At that time it was too much for scientists”, – Lee Berger comments in an interview with AFP. They stay “I am convinced that all this is connected with our large brain and that this happened very recently, less than 100,000 years ago”he explains. “We’re going to tell the world this isn’t true.”triumphant is the 57-year-old researcher who goes even further.

On the walls of the tombs, geometric symbols were found, carefully drawn with a sharp or cutting tool. Squares, triangles and crosses, he says, were intentionally left on smooth surfaces, probably to make them more readable. “That would mean that not only are humans not the only ones to have developed symbolic practices, but they may not even have invented such behavior.”Lee Berger says

Carol Ward, an anthropologist at the University of Missouri, believes that “These results, if confirmed, would have significant potential significance”. “I look forward to learning how the location of the remains precludes possible explanations other than intentional burial, and to see the results once they have been peer reviewed.”she told AFP. More analyzes need to be done. But already the Berger team announces that it will be necessary “rethinking a range of hypotheses about hominids and human evolution”.

For a long time, scientists have associated the ability to control fire, engraving, or even painting with the mental power of modern man, which is typical of Cro-Magnons. “Burial, meaning-making and even art may have a much more complex and non-human origin than we thought”, predicts Agustin Fuentes, an anthropologist at Princeton University and co-author of the results. If this discovery is confirmed, this news will shake the foundations of human evolution.