Homo Naledi in Rising Star Caves S.A..

[Slug]

Very interesting article on the most recent discoveries from the Rising Star Caves of South Africa.

Her previous video also touched on some cave related aspects of Neanderthal society.

 

[alanw]

Ancient proteins hint at all-female Homo naledi burial site in Rising Star cave system​

https://phys.org/news/2026-06-ancient-proteins-hint-female-homo.html

Scientists have extracted and analyzed the first-ever ancient proteins from the fossils of Homo naledi, revealing a potential all-female burial site. The study, published in the journal Cell, raises the possibility that South Africa's famous Rising Star Cave system could represent the first known example of a sex-specific burial site by a non-Homo sapiens species.

Homo naledi, an extinct cousin of modern humans that lived between 335,000 and 241,000 years ago, has puzzled researchers since its initial discovery in 2013. The species possessed an unusual mixture of primitive, ape-like traits alongside humanlike features.

But for more than a decade, scientists have wondered why the adult fossils recovered from the cave's Dinaledi Chamber looked so remarkably similar. The remains showed almost none of the physical variations that would be expected between males and females.

 

[mikem]

Possibility a) there weren't such obvious differences as we see nowadays

b) the blokes mostly got eaten by other predators

c) they were buried elsewhere

 

[mrodoc]

As Slug probably knows first found and entered by members of the BEC.