Palaeontologists find world's oldest-known burial site in South Africa

The world's oldest known burial site has been found in South Africa, containing remains of a small-brained distant relative of humans previously thought incapable of complex behaviour. According to a report by the news agency AFP on Tuesday (June 6), a team of Palaeontologists led by Lee Berger said they discovered several specimens of Homo naledi- a tree-climbing, Stone Age hominid -- buried about 30 metres (100 feet) underground in a cave system within the Cradle of Humankind, a UNESCO world heritage site near Johannesburg.

In a series of preprint papers to be published in eLife, the researchers said, "These are the most ancient interments yet recorded in the hominin record, earlier than evidence of Homo sapiens interments by at least 100,000 years."

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The findings challenge the current understanding of human evolution. The oldest burials previously unearthed, found in the Middle East and Africa, contained the remains of Homo sapiens -- and were around 100,000 years old. And those found in South Africa, date back to at least 200,000 BC.

What is Homo naledi?

Homo naledi is a primitive species at the crossroads between apes and modern humans, which had brains about the size of oranges and stood about five feet tall. AFP reported the species had curved fingers and toes, and tool-wielding hands and feet made for walking.

The species is named after the "Rising Star" cave system where the first bones were found in 2013.

Engravings forming geometrical shapes, including a "rough hashtag figure", were also found on the purposely smoothed surfaces of a cave pillar nearby.

Speaking to AFP, Lee Berger said "That would mean not only are humans not unique in the development of symbolic practices, but may not have even invented such behaviours."

Such a statement is likely to ruffle some feathers in the world of palaeontology, where Berger has previously faced accusations of lacking scientific rigour and rushing to conclusions.

In 2015, Berger first suggested the idea that Homo naledi was capable of more than the size of its head suggested. "That was too much for scientists to take at that time. We think it's all tied up with this big brain," he said. "We're about to tell the world that's not true."

(With inputs from agencies)

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