Abstract
New discoveries and dating of fossil remains from the Rising Star cave system, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa, have strong implications for our understanding of Pleistocene human evolution in Africa. Direct dating of Homo naledi fossils from the Dinaledi Chamber (Berger et al., 2015) shows that they were deposited between about 236 ka and 335 ka (Dirks et al., 2017), placing H. naledi in the later Middle Pleistocene. Hawks and colleagues (Hawks et al., 2017) report the discovery of a second chamber within the Rising Star system (Dirks et al., 2015) that contains H. naledi remains. Previously, only large-brained modern humans or their close relatives had been demonstrated to exist at this late time in Africa, but the fossil evidence for any hominins in subequatorial Africa was very sparse. It is now evident that a diversity of hominin lineages existed in this region, with some divergent lineages contributing DNA to living humans and at least H. naledi representing a survivor from the earliest stages of diversification within Homo. The existence of a diverse array of hominins in subequatorial comports with our present knowledge of diversity across other savanna-adapted species, as well as with palaeoclimate and paleoenvironmental data. H. naledi casts the fossil and archaeological records into a new light, as we cannot exclude that this lineage was responsible for the production of Acheulean or Middle Stone Age tool industries.
Highlights
Recent work within the Rising Star cave system has given rise to two findings that influence our knowledge of Homo naledi, its behavior and its position in human evolution
As we continue to study the geological history of the Rising Star system, it is possible that we will find that H. naledi or small carnivores accessed the Lesedi Chamber differently than excavators today, but we have found no evidence of a nearby vertical entry that would accommodate hominins
Fossil and genetic evidence shows that subequatorial Africa was home to diverse populations of hominins throughout the Pleistocene
Summary
Recent work within the Rising Star cave system has given rise to two findings that influence our knowledge of Homo naledi, its behavior and its position in human evolution. Within the 3,000 km radius are a large femur from Berg Aukas, Namibia (Grine et al, 1995), presumed to be of Middle Pleistocene age, and a large tibia from Hoedjiespunt, South Africa (Berger and Parkington, 1995; Stynder et al, 2001; Churchill et al, 2000) that is Middle Pleistocene in age Earlier than these Middle Pleistocene fossil specimens, the sites of Olorgesailie and Olduvai Gorge both preserve evidence of hominin crania (KNM-OL 45500, OH 12), which fragmentary, clearly belonged to individuals that had relatively small brain sizes comparable to some of the earliest H. erectus remains (Potts et al, 2004; Anton, 2004). Palaeoanthropologists and archaeologists have generally assumed that morphologically primitive hominins such as H. naledi did not survive into the later parts of the Pleistocene in Africa This assumption has guided the interpretation of fossil discoveries with poor geological or stratigraphic context, including the many surface finds that make up the majority of the record from ancient lacustrine and riverine deposits
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