200,000-year-old tomb discovered, not made by our species

(NLDO) - The ancient tomb cluster dates back 100,000 years to the time when we, Homo sapiens, were believed to have known how to bury our dead.

According to Science Alert, an excavation in South Africa has revealed a shocking cluster of ancient graves. The remains inside are of a species that looks quite similar to our species Homo sapiens, but lives in trees and has a much smaller brain.

Of course, the tomb builders were not Homo sapiens, the species considered to be Homo sapiens or modern humans, that is, us.

Cradle of Humankind Cave in South Africa, where an ancient tomb created by another species was found - Photo: Maropeng

They - the people in the ancient tombs and the tombs - were identified as Homo naledi, a species of the same genus Homo (Human) as us, but still with hominid features.

The remains are now located about 30 metres underground in the Cradle of Humankind cave system near Johannesburg, a UNESCO world heritage site.

200,000 years ago, when this ancient tomb was created, the remains were probably buried much shallower, before being covered by successive layers of sediment.

Remains found deep underground in the Cradle of Humankind cave - Photo: Lee Berger and colleagues

“This is the oldest burial behavior recorded in the human record, predating evidence of burial behavior in Homo sapiens by at least 100,000 years,” said the research team led by Dr. Lee Berger from the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa) and the National Geographic Society.

The oldest graves ever made by our species Homo sapiens were found in the Middle East and Africa, dating back around 100,000 years.

The species that made up this tomb is itself a shocking detail.

Homo naledi is considered a species that lies at the crossroads between apes and modern humans. They had brains the size of oranges and stood about 1.5 metres tall, with arms and legs that were not really suited to tools or complex behaviours like digging a grave.

Meanwhile, the act of burying the dead is considered a "high-level" act that can only appear when humans evolve to a certain level.

According to the authors, the new discovery suggests that human evolution may not have followed a straight line.

Scientists are continuing their explorations in the cave where the ancient tomb is located, which is part of a large cave system called Rising Star in South Africa, which is known for the remains of other human species.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/phat-hien-mo-co-200000-nam-khong-phai-loai-chung-ta-tao-ra-196240620172600417.htm