Fahmi Alhayani June 12, 2016 Research Paper - Homo Naledi Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Homo naledi is how and where it was found. In 2013, two eagle-eyed cavers spotted human remains in a remote cavern deep in the Rising Star cave system, just outside of Johannesburg, South Africa. The chamber, nicknamed Denaledi Chamber ("star chamber"), lies approximately 30 meters below the surface and is only accessible through more than 80 meters of often extremely narrow passages. Berger himself was too tall to access the fossils, so he assembled a team of scientists small and flexible enough to undertake the arduous descent. Berger's team found it to be the largest and most diverse assemblage of hominid fossils ever discovered in Africa. Homo nalediOne of the great controversies of Homo naledi is how the bodies get where they are. The cave in which the bodies were found is highly inaccessible. Four hypotheses on how the bodies got to occupation, water transport, predation and death trap were ruled out. A new hypothesis was formulated: what if Homo naledi intentionally buried its dead? Although there is not yet enough evidence to confirm it, such behavior would be significant in that it preceded earlier instances of the behavior in Neanderthals and humans. This would add to the argument that Homo naledi belongs to the genus (2015). A deep cave gives birth to a new human. New Scientist, 227 (3038), 89. Berger, LR, Hawks, J., Ruiter, DJ, Churchill, SE, Schmid, P., Delezene, LK, . . . Zipfel, B. (September 10, 2015). Homo naledi, a new species of the genus Homo from Dinaledi House, South Africa. ELife, 4. doi:10.7554/elife.09560 Bower, B. (2016). The debate over Homo naledi continues. Science News, 189 (10), 1213. Juskalian, R. (2016). Homo naledi and the Chamber of Secrets. Discover, 37 (1), 1011. Shermer, M. (2016). Murder in the cave. Scientific American, 314 (1), 75. Shreeve, J. (2015). This face changes human history. But how? Retrieved June 12, 2016, from news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/09/150910humanevolutionchange Stringer, C. (2015). The many mysteries of Homo naledi [image], retrieved June 12, 2016 from