Recently astonishing discoveries have Come to light that challenge our Understanding of human evolution burial Practices and the role of brain size and Shaping Advanced behaviors ancient Humans were burying their dead and Making symbols Lying to us about our path the oldest Known human relative hundreds of Thousands of years ago there was a human Species that no longer exists today they Might have purposefully buried their Deceased and created significant symbols In a cave located in South Africa these Advanced actions were previously Believed to be only done by neanderthals And modern humans if this turns out to Be true it would mean that these burials Happened much earlier than any others we Know of going back at least one hundred Thousand years two research papers were Shared on the pre-print server bjorksif And the same information was presented By paleoanthropologist Lee Berger during A conference at Stony Brook University In New York it took eight years for Berger to publish these findings after He initially announced the discovery of A new human-like species in the rising Star cave system which is about 25 miles Northwest of Johannesburg this species Called homonality is known for its small Size with a brain about one-third the Size of modern moments What's intriguing

Is that it has a puzzling combination of Very ancient and somewhat modern Physical traits in the cave the skeletal Remains were found in one specific and Difficult to reach area these remains Have been dated to a time between 335 And 241 000 years ago which was around The period when modern humans were Starting to appear in Africa Berger who Works as an Explorer in Residence at the National Geographic Society mentioned That they have discovered evidence of a Culture belonging to a species that is Not like modern humans the research is Supported by the National Geographic Society the hundreds of thousands of Years ago being similar to us were Burying their dead and carving symbols Suggesting that they were far more Intelligent than paleo archaeologists Ever presumed in 2015 Burgers team Suggested the idea of deliberate burials When they first revealed the discovery Of homonality it seemed like the most Logical reason for finding over 1800 Bone fragments in a deep underground Round chamber to get there one had to Make a challenging four-story vertical Drop through a narrow slot which they Named the Chute with a width similar to That of a pencil around 7.5 inches in Addition the way some of the skeletal Remains were found indicated that the Deceased individuals might have been

Placed carefully on the chamber's floor Rather than being thrown down the Chute And Landing as a messy pile of bones at The bottom lots of experts were doubtful That a homonym with a small brain could Perform such human-like actions instead They proposed that the remains might Have washed into the cave or been Brought Inside by Predators however upon Analyzing the bone fragments no signs of Gnaw marks were found and the Examination of a Cave's environment and Sediments ruled out the possibility of Water carrying the remains inside some Doubters proposed the idea that modern Humans who lived in the same area as Hormonality for around 50 000 years Might have brought the bodies into the Cave through the Chute or another Passage that could have collapsed later However the team exploring the rising Star cave found no indications of modern Human presence or any proof of an Additional entrance in 2017 the Researchers went back to rising star and Made some new findings that were not Disclosed until recently they found Clusters of hormonality bone fragments That seemed to belong to one or possibly More individual these fragments were Located in Shallow pits that cut across The layers of the cave floor not Following the Cave's natural slope which Suggests that these pits were

Intentionally dug what's more the Material filling these pits is different From the surrounding sediments a set of Bones was carefully dug out and Protected by encasing them in plaster When Ste scans were done on these blocks They showed the remains of at least Three individuals one of them being an Older juvenile the young individual's Remains seem untouched and in Surprisingly good condition with all 30 Teeth arranged correctly two sets of Partial ribs as well as Bones from the Right foot ankle and lower limb close to A partial right hand hours our legs are Longer chimps have longer arms so is This like does it have almost equal Length arms and legs like so it has long Legs almost like a person but longer Arms than we do there was a rock that The researchers think could be a stone Artifact or tool however some experts From outside the research team Completely reject this idea according to Andre goncabs an expert studying animal Interactions with the dead discussions About intentional burials usually Revolve around the distinction between Mortuary behavior and funerary behavior For instance animals like chimpanzees And elephants demonstrate Mortuary Behavior when they watch over a dead Body or interact with it seemingly Expecting it to revive it on the other

Hand funerary Behavior involves Intentional actions Carry Out by Creatures capable of complex thinking Recognizing themselves as separate from Nature and understanding the importance Of the disease fees up until now the Earliest known evidence of funerary Behavior and deliberate burial among Hominin species which includes modern Humans and Neanderthals dated back at Least one hundred thousand years after The time of honolului goncavs points out That among primates humans stand out Because we have the unique habit of Burying our dead something that no other Primate seems to do when the papers were Reviewed by outside experts on behalf of National Geographic they expressed Various concerns about the evidence Supporting deliberate burial some still Believe that water might have carried The bone fragments into natural Depressions on the cave floor which then Got filled with sediment Over time However John Hawks an anthropologist who Is a member of the Rising Star team and Co-author of the papers argues that the Most compelling evidence they have is That the burials actually Disturbed the Cave's existing layers another criticism Concerns the condition of the bones as Most of them are scattered and not Connected according to Paleoanthropologist Maria martinon

Torres these displacements cannot be Easily explained by the natural process Of decomposition she has studied the Oldest known human burial in Africa However the recent discoveries have had Some impact on Anthropologist Chris Stringer's perspective he used to be Doubtful about the idea that a small Brain species like homo nalidi would go Deep into the cave to bury its dead but Now based on the evidence he has seen so Far he admits that his view on the Likelihood of deliberate burial has Shifted in a second research paper the Scientists talk about another exciting Find they discovered abstract shapes and Patterns carved into the walls of the Cave close to where the burials were Presumed to be these etchings seem to Have been deliberately created with a Substance and smoothed out some of the Markings appear to have been erased and Then re-engraved suggesting that they Were made gradually Over time however Dating these Engravings is tricky Because of the type of rock in the Cave's walls which is called dolomitic Limestone the researchers admit that it Will be quite challenging to determine Whether these Engravings were made Around the same time as the hormonality Burials especially since they're just a Few meters apart according to Archaeologist Curtis Moran the cross

Hatch design seen on the cave walls are Quite similar to design designs found in Later Homo sapiens sites in the area and Also resemble indigenous cosine imagery Although the researchers are careful and Say more investigation is required to Fully understand and study all the Engravings they highlight that creating Designs whether through painting etching Or engraving on Cave walls or other Surfaces is considered a significant Cognitive advancement moreover Throughout the millions of years of Human evolution the size of our brains Has grown three times larger and our Behaviors have become much more Sophisticated in the early stages small Brained human ancestors only made basic Stone tools as their brains evolved and Got bigger they created more advanced Tools and developed better ways to Survive in our own species Homo sapiens Are behavioral complexity reached Remarkable Heights we developed Technology that allowed us to explore Every corner of the world practice Ceremonial burial of the deceased formed Extensive social networks and expressed Ourselves through ART music and and Language with shared meanings for a long Time scientists believe that the Increase in brain size was the driving Force behind these technological and Cognitive advancements however new and

Surprising discoveries at a fossil site In South Africa are challenging this Fundamental idea of human evolution in a Third research paper Berger and his team Combined the information about the Burials and rock art to question a Common belief that larger brains Automatically lead to more complex Behaviors like tool making controlling Fire and creating symbol looking at the Fossil evidence we can see that the Brain size of various hominin Populations increased over a span of 2 Million years with Homo sapiens having The largest brains for instance the Brain of a modern adult male can hold About 1500 cubic centimeters but Homonality's brain was much smaller Measuring less than 600 cubic Centimeters the researchers proposed That if this small brain hominin like Homo naledi indeed displayed Advanced Behavior years like intentional burial And creating symbols connected to those Burials then brain size might not be the Main factor determining complex Cognition in a species they highlight That crucial milestones in human Evolution happened among small brain Hominins like creating distinctive stone Tools Moving Out of Africa into Asia and Using fire they also mention another Small brain species homo fluoresciensis Which was known to use tools and fire so

The researchers suggest that brain Structure and wiring might have been More influential than brain size in Enabling these Advanced abilities Although the research papers don't Explicitly mention evidence of fire in Rising Star Burger confirms that his Team has found proof of controlled fire In the cave system they've discovered Many hearts which are areas where fire Was managed and used he describes the Place as being covered with soot fire Remnants and burned bone indicating Extensive fire usage the team intends to Conduct carbon dating on this evidence In the future to determine its age and Significance that's it for today Subscribe to our Channel and hit the Notification Bell