It made the international news cycle today, but I haven't seen it posted yet so thought I'd create a new thread.
Scientists revealed that they have discovered a single site at the Cradle of Humankind near Joburg holding fossils of more than 15 individuals of a newly discovered species of human ancestor they have called Homo Naledi. Naledi means "star".
![[Image: Homo+naledi+xxx]](http://www.bdlive.co.za/incoming/2015/09/10/homo-naledi-xxx/ALTERNATES/crop_638x402/Homo+naledi+xxx)
They have concluded, after considering but rejecting the other possibilities, that the site must be a burial site, thus pushing back the date human ancestors started burying their dead. Actually "burying" isn't an accurate term. The bodies were found placed in a remote and inaccessible cave.
http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/science...n-ancestor
While I don't share the view that there is some sort of weird conspiracy trying to convince people of the "Out of Africa" hypothesis against the evidence, this sort of discovery does concern me. Or rather, it concerns me that broad generalisations are made form only a few discoveries. The place this discovery was made is quite close to Johannesburg, nice and close to the academics at the University. I always feel that people look in certain places because they are convenient. And you don't normally find things where you are not looking. Obviously this is an oversimplification, but factors unrelated to the underlying reality affect where most people look for fossils. So generalisations from fossils found at such a convenient site make me "nervous".
But anyway, the find is regarded as very significant. It is very rare to find the kind of volume of fossils that was discovered in one place. They have not been dated yet (not sure why), but I think they have placed the species in some sort of slot.
Scientists revealed that they have discovered a single site at the Cradle of Humankind near Joburg holding fossils of more than 15 individuals of a newly discovered species of human ancestor they have called Homo Naledi. Naledi means "star".
They have concluded, after considering but rejecting the other possibilities, that the site must be a burial site, thus pushing back the date human ancestors started burying their dead. Actually "burying" isn't an accurate term. The bodies were found placed in a remote and inaccessible cave.
Quote:Quote:
The fossils were found in a chamber so remote it appears no other species was able to access it, bar a few birds and mice. The team’s hypothesis that the H. naledi bodies were deliberately placed there arose from eliminating other possible explanations, said Prof Berger.
The fossil bones bore no marks of scavengers or carnivores that might have dragged them there, and there was no evidence of a natural process such as moving water that might have deposited them in the cave, he said.
It appears the bodies were intact when they were placed in the cave, and began to decompose there. Some of the skeletal remains were found in articulation and include a hand missing only one of its 27 bones.
“We explored every alternative scenario, including mass death ... and were left with intentional body disposal by Homo naledi as the most plausible scenario,” he said.
http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/science...n-ancestor
While I don't share the view that there is some sort of weird conspiracy trying to convince people of the "Out of Africa" hypothesis against the evidence, this sort of discovery does concern me. Or rather, it concerns me that broad generalisations are made form only a few discoveries. The place this discovery was made is quite close to Johannesburg, nice and close to the academics at the University. I always feel that people look in certain places because they are convenient. And you don't normally find things where you are not looking. Obviously this is an oversimplification, but factors unrelated to the underlying reality affect where most people look for fossils. So generalisations from fossils found at such a convenient site make me "nervous".
But anyway, the find is regarded as very significant. It is very rare to find the kind of volume of fossils that was discovered in one place. They have not been dated yet (not sure why), but I think they have placed the species in some sort of slot.