A group of scientists led by a professor at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, Lee Berger have discovered a human-like species they called “Homo naledi”.
The team was reportedly tipped-off to the site of the discovery in 2013 by cavers plumbing the depths of the limestone tunnels in the Rising Star Cave outside Johannesburg, CNN reported today.
Berger said fossils –which comprised infants, children, adults and elderly individuals- found in the cave gave indications that the species seem to have buried their dead, just as humans do.
The cave, according to him, appeared to be a form of burial ground, with no visible sign of aggression which could have forced the species to take refuge there.
“There is no damage from predators, there is no sign of a catastrophe. We had to come to the inevitable conclusion that Homo naledi, a non-human species of hominid, was deliberately disposing of its dead in that dark chamber. Why, we don’t know.
“Until the moment of discovery of ‘naledi,’ I would have probably said to you that it was our defining character. The idea of burial of the dead or ritualized body disposal is something utterly uniquely human,” Prof Berger told CNN.
Scientists say the species are not human though, as they had very small cranial cases which were not bigger than an orange, but appeared to have been about 5 feet tall, climbed, used tools and walked long distances.