Entombed in a limestone shelf of South Africa’s Rising Star Cave, the fragmented skull of a Homo naledi child has suggested that the prehistoric species may have been more similar to modern humans than previously thought.
Two new studies, published this week in the journal PaleoAnthropology, have revealed new details about the mysterious Homo naledi people, based on a set of fossils first discovered in 2017, which are believed to be that of a young Homo naledi of 4- to 6-years-old.
An international team of researchers has estimated the child would have lived between 236,000 and 335,000 years ago, before finding their final resting place in an extremely narrow passage of the UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Malmani dolomites of South Africa’s Gauteng province, CNN reported.
The tiny, incomplete skull — broken into 28 parts, plus six teeth — was a particularly notable find for paleontologists, who noted that child remains are rare, for their bones are typically more fragile than adults’.
“This is the first partial skull of a child of Homo naledi yet recovered and this begins to give us insight into all stages of life of this remarkable species,” said Juliet Brophy, lead author of one of the studies, analyzing the child’s skull itself.
They named the child Leti, short for letimela, meaning “the lost one” in South Africa’s Setstwanna language.
It was a “very difficult” excavation, according to researchers, who found no trace of Leti’s body.
“This was one of the more challenging sites with hominin fossils we have had to get to in the Rising Star system,” said Marina Elliott, cave location study author and leader of the excavation team, said in another statement.
Leti’s skull was located in a remote passage, only 15 centimeters wide by 80 centimeters long. Researchers believe the site may have served as a burial site for Leti — a practice not usually observed in ancient hominid species.
“The area where Leti was found is part of a spiderweb of cramped passages,” said cave exploration team member Maropeng Ramalepa.
Researchers believe the Homo naledi species may have lived alongside humans for a period of time.
“Homo naledi remains one of the most enigmatic ancient human relatives ever discovered.”
lead researcher, Lee Berger
“Homo naledi remains one of the most enigmatic ancient human relatives ever discovered,” said lead researcher Lee Berger, a professor at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. His research has noted that Leti’s brain had reached 90- to 95% of its full capacity, which would have been 450 to 600 cubic centimeters (cc) — less than half the volume of the adult human brain at 1,450 cc. The Homo naledi hands, while human-like, exhibited a natural curve that suggests more specialized climbing capabilities than modern people.
And the fact that Leti’s body was found in a barely accessible corner of the Rising Star Cave, where other Homo naledi remains have been identified, suggested that it may have been placed there on purpose.
“It is clearly a primitive species, existing at a time when previously we thought only modern humans were in Africa,” Berger explained. “Its very presence at that time and in this place complexifies our understanding of who did what first concerning the invention of complex stone tool cultures and even ritual practices.”
