News Anthropology

A child’s partial skull adds to the mystery of how Homo naledi treated the dead

Found in a narrow opening, the remains stoke possibility of ancient, deliberate cave disposals

hand holds a reconstruction of a Homo naledi child’s skull showing fossil teeth and parts of the cranium

A researcher holds a reconstruction of a Homo naledi child’s skull based on fossil pieces and teeth (lighter-colored areas) found in a remote passage inside a South African cave system.

© Wits University

By Bruce Bower

- More than 2 years ago

A child’s partial skull found in a remote section of a South African cave system has fueled suspicion that an ancient hominid known as Homo naledi deliberately disposed of its dead in caves.