Over 299,000 years Homind Homo naledi buried their dead carved symbols

[shunyadragon]

Another Homind speies Homo naledi buried their dead in caves and carved symbols over 200,000 years ago,

Source: https://phys.org/news/2023-06-south-africa-lee-berger-palaeontology.html

The South Africa-based, US-born explorer has turned the study of ancient life upside down, discovering two new species of hominid in less than two decades—hit findings that earned him fame and envy.

In several scientific papers, Berger announced evidence that Homo naledi—one of our Stone Age cousins he previously unveiled—buried their dead and carved symbols on tomb walls.

These would be the oldest interments ever found.

The findings question the current understanding of human evolution, implying that our small-brained, tree-climbing relatives who roamed earth more than 200,000 years ago had cognitive abilities usually associated with modern humans.

"Homo naledi tells us we're not that special," Berger told AFP, perched on a rock outside a cave in the Cradle of Humankind, a world heritage site near Johannesburg, which is the 57-year-old's scientific playground.

The smash revelation is likely to ruffle some feathers in the small, competitive world of paleontology, where Berger has previously faced accusations of lacking scientific rigor and rushing to conclusions.

Some of his colleagues take decades to turn hypotheses into published findings.

"Lee Berger is a very special person," said French palaeoanthropologist Bruno Maureille.

"He may be moving a little too quickly in relation to the long time it takes to understand this type of context".

Bombastic announcements tend to create buzz and attract much-coveted research funding.

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[shunyadragon]

This not the earliest tool use for making symbols, Homo Erectus carved symbols on shells over 500.000 years ago:

https://www.researchgate.net/publica..._and_Engraving