Newly-Discovered Human Species Buried Their Dead: Evidence That You Can't Teach an Old Human New Tricks

In September 2015, paleontologists announced the discovery of a new human species. Paleontologists discovered a prehistoric pit filled with thousands of bones in a cave in South Africa. The pit contained the bones of approximately fifteen individuals, ranging in age from infant to adulthood. The new species, called Homo naledi, appears to be most closely related to Homo erectus. This new discovery leads scientists to believe that the human “family tree” is more like a “’bush’ filled with tangled loose ends.”

After doing some digging, the paleontologists determined that the remains appeared to have been placed one-by-one into the pit at different times. The paleontologists made this determination based on the fact that skeletal remains were located in different layers of clay in the bottom of the pit. They believed this was an indicator that this prehistoric human species actually buried their dead. While this is obviously not a burial in terms of our modern expectation of the word, it does appear that the bodies were deliberately lowered into this pit into a mass grave of sorts. The paleontological team that made the discovery estimated that Homo naledi would have had to travel approximately 260 feet from the entrance of the cave to the pit, using torches for light, to deposit their dead into this pit. This, plus the layering, makes it more likely that these individuals were placed into this mass grave, as opposed to having died in a group in some type of catastrophic event. Scientists do not, however, know for certain who placed the individuals into the pit – whether it was done in a ceremonious way as a burial by other members of the species, a way to protect the dead from predatory animals, or a way for a more recent, but still prehistoric, species to have disposed of the dead members of this species. Either way, this is an indicator of some type of prehistoric burial practice.

The fact that a species of man made the conscious decision to dispose of their dead in this way reinforces the deep entrenchment of the human respect for the dead. While we have adopted a strong preference for individualized burial, our prehistoric ancestors still felt a strong desire to dispose of their dead in a respectful, safe way as opposed to leaving them out for desecration by predators. While alternate methods of disposition – as opposed to the traditional funeral and ground burial – are on the rise, maybe our prehistoric roots will never allow us to move completely away from burial.

Brandy Davis