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Follow us Paleontologists in South Africa have discovered the world’s oldest-known burial site, challenging previous beliefs about the cognitive capabilities of early human relatives. Led by Lee Berger, the research team found several Homo Naledi specimens deep within a cave system near Johannesburg. This find challenges the idea that “bigger brains” were necessary for certain tasks, such as burial rituals. In a groundbreaking discovery, paleontologists in South Africa have unveiled the world’s oldest-known burial site.

This discovery makes us rethink previous beliefs about the cognitive capabilities of early human relatives. Led by the esteemed paleoanthropologist Lee Berger, the research team has unearthed several Homo Naledi specimens deep within a cave system located in the Cradle of Humankind, a UNESCO World Heritage Site near Johannesburg.
These individuals, a species known for their small brains and arboreal lifestyle, were found buried approximately 100 feet underground.
Representative image
This remarkable find challenges the conventional wisdom regarding human evolution, which thought that having ‘bigger brains’ was necessary to perform certain tasks that carried deep, inherent meanings, for example, a burial ritual. Previous archaeological discoveries of burials in the Middle East and Africa dated back around 100,000 years but primarily featured Homo sapiens remains.
Homo Naledi, named after the “Rising Star” cave system where initial bones were uncovered in 2013, stands as a pivotal transitional species between apes and modern humans.
Several reports also suggest that paleontologists believe that the burial site is not the sole indicator of Homo naledi’s ability to perform complex emotional tasks. Engravings, including geometric shapes like a ‘rough hashtag figure,’ were found on nearby caves which seemed to be evened out.
Reports suggest that the signs and symbols found could lead to a new revelation that the humans or homo sapiens, were not the first species to invent sign language or its usage. It could, in fact, date back to several thousand years ago.