# H. naledi dug hollows in the chamber floor, laid bodies in them and covered them with sediment; some features…

> Disputed: H. naledi dug hollows in the chamber floor, laid bodies in them and covered them with sediment; some features were later disturbed by further…

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/homo-naledi-burials/answers/ANS0D38XBAW5W7R/h-naledi-dug-hollows-in-the-chamber-floor-laid-bodies-in  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

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[Questions](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions)[Homo naledi and the Rising Star burial claims](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/homo-naledi-burials)[Were the Hill Antechamber and Dinaledi features bodies placed in dug pits and deliberately covered?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/homo-naledi-burials/questions/QST0D38X7DW1XKH/were-the-hill-antechamber-and-dinaledi-features-bodies)Answer

Answer · Homo naledi and the Rising Star burial claims

# H. naledi dug hollows in the chamber floor, laid bodies in them and covered them with sediment; some features…

H. naledi dug hollows in the chamber floor, laid bodies in them and covered them with sediment; some features were later disturbed by further digging.

**Disputed** Answers **1** questionPublished0

## Where it stands

**Disputed** Three pieces of evidence for, three against. It needs two reviews to be accepted.

## What it predicts

- A cut through pre-existing layers is visible in section and in micromorphology at the feature edges.
- The infill differs in composition and fabric from the floor it cuts.
- Articulated parts show the body decayed in a filled space, not on an open surface.
- Features are of body size and shape and recur.

## What would rule it out

- Full excavation and thin sections across a feature edge showing continuous, undisturbed layering, or infill indistinguishable from the surrounding autobrecciated sediment.

## Evidence 3 for · 3 against

[Articulated, matrix-supported skeletal regions show bodies were covered before soft tissue decayed.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/homo-naledi-burials/evidence/EVD0D38XBJP07N7/articulated-matrix-supported-skeletal-regions-show-bodies)

Supported

FOR

[One of the two final reviewers judged the evidence to convincingly show intentional burial.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/homo-naledi-burials/evidence/EVD0D38XC2A2BSB/one-of-the-two-final-reviewers-judged-the-evidence-to)

Suggestive

FOR

[Trace and rare-earth element chemistry of Feature 1 differs from surrounding sediment.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/homo-naledi-burials/evidence/EVD0D38XBTG4ATZ/trace-and-rare-earth-element-chemistry-of-feature-1-differs)

Suggestive

FOR

[Published critique finds neither dug pits nor deliberate covering demonstrated.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/homo-naledi-burials/evidence/EVD0D38XCSR5Z5T/published-critique-finds-neither-dug-pits-nor-deliberate)

Supported

AGAINST

[Reviewers found no demonstrated pit cut, no micromorphology of the disturbed sediment and no full excavation…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/homo-naledi-burials/evidence/EVD0D38XCA407HT/reviewers-found-no-demonstrated-pit-cut-no-micromorphology)

Supported

AGAINST

[The fossil-bearing sediment forms by autobrecciation and is reworked in place, so hollows and chemical…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/homo-naledi-burials/evidence/EVD0D38XCHY3JKJ/the-fossil-bearing-sediment-forms-by-autobrecciation-and-is)

Supported

AGAINST

## The questions it answers

[Were the Hill Antechamber and Dinaledi features bodies placed in dug pits and deliberately covered?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/homo-naledi-burials/questions/QST0D38X7DW1XKH/were-the-hill-antechamber-and-dinaledi-features-bodies)

Open4 answers, none ahead

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). H. naledi dug hollows in the chamber floor, laid bodies in them and covered them with sediment; some features… [Answer ANS0D38XBAW5W7R]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0D38XBAW5W7R
```

Key

**ANS** 0D38XBAW5W7R

Kind

Answer · hypothesis

Origin

Published

Version

1

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