The practice of burying the dead is a deeply rooted human, or so we thought, tradition that most likely began even before written history. It is not only a ritual to bring peace for the deceased, but can also reflect on the cultural and spiritual beliefs of a group. Turns out this is not only a human ritual, but non-human animal species have also been found to bury their dead. The homo naledi are a primate species that was discovered by Lee Berger at Stony Brook University (Romey). The homo naledi are scarily similar to the homo sapien on a physical level including similar: teeth, jaws and feet (Johanson). Thousands of their bone fragments were found in a deep underground chamber dubbed “the Chute”, located within the Rising Star cave system in South Africa’s Transvaal region (Romey). Although the name suggests that the bodies were dropped down “the Chute”, the condition of the skeletal remains alludes to the idea that the bodies were individually placed, like in graves for modern burials. The researchers who first found these remains said they were “found so deep within the cave system that they must have been intentionally put there by other members of the species (Davis)”. This burial is said to have occurred about 300,000 years ago, making it one of the oldest burials that we know of thus far. The arrangement of bodies within this complicated terrain hint at a symbolic or ritualistic significance. A study was conducted to see if primates were able to conduct rituals and it was found they only met certain qualifications, so it was called proto-rituals (Tennie & Schaik). For humans, to be considered a ritual, the action must be symbolic by nature and must be copied. The definition is similar for primates, which must follow the following criteria: “socially shared, symbolic feature(s) that are created via actions and/or results that require copying” (Tennie & Schaik). Some researchers argue that this presumed burial site reflect the homo naledi’s beliefs in an afterlife or their desire to commemorate the deceased. Others suggest that they may have been a way to strengthen social bonds within the group to express grief or loss. The practice of burying the dead has persisted across hundreds of thousands of years and continues to be a central aspect of human cultures worldwide. While modern burial practices may vary slightly from those of early homo species, the underlying principles of respect for the deceased and the need to commemorate their lives, as well as their ancestral past, remain consistent. 

Archeologists looking at the bones of 1 out of the 15 homo naledi found (Clark). 

Paleoanthropologist Lee Berger and the skull replica of a homo naledi (Eloff). 

References:

Clark, Robert. National Geographic, 2023, Accessed 1 October 2023.

Davis, Josh. “Claims that ancient hominins buried their dead could alter our understanding of human evolution.” Natural History Museum, 5 June 2023, https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2023/june/claims-homo-naledi-buried-their-dead-alter-our-understanding-human-evolution.html. Accessed 1 October 2023.

Eloff, Brett. University of Kent, 5 November 2016, Accessed 1 October 2023.

Johanson, Donald C. “Homo naledi | Cave Site & Facts.” Britannica,  5 Jun. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Homo-naledi. Accessed 1 October 2023.

Romey, Kristin. “A mysterious human species may have been the first to bury their dead.” National Geographic, 5 June 2023, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/earliest-human-burial-homo-naledi-berger. Accessed 1 October 2023.

Tennie, Claudio, and Carel P van Schaik. “Spontaneous (minimal) ritual in non-human great apes?.” Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences vol. 375,1805 (2020): 20190423. doi:10.1098/rstb.2019.0423

Further Reading: 

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/05/science/ancient-humans-homo-naledi-buried-dead.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2023/06/05/homo-naledi-burial/