Evidence for deliberate burial of the dead by Homo naledi
Lee R Berger, Tebogo Vincent Makhubela, Keneiloe Molopyane et al., 2025. eLife 12: RP89106 (version of record, 1 September 2025).
The burial paper in its final form. Describes the Hill Antechamber Feature (excavated 2017-2018, lifted as a plaster block and CT-scanned), Dinaledi Features 1 and 2, and a re-reading of the 2013-2014 Puzzle Box area. Argues that articulated, matrix-supported skeletal regions were covered by sediment before soft tissue decayed, that slumping and floor decomposition are excluded, and that a "minimal hypothesis of hominin cultural burial" best fits the pattern. Supplementary file 1 gives trace and rare-earth element results for the sediments.
What it's used for here
The claim under test; the source for the features, the sediment geochemistry and the dates it relies on.
The document 128 pages
Cited by on this site 23 records
Cite it
Berger, L. R., Makhubela, T. V., Molopyane, K., Krüger, A., Randolph-Quinney, P., Elliott, M., Peixotto, B., Fuentes, A., & Hawks, J. (2025). Evidence for deliberate burial of the dead by Homo naledi. eLife 12: RP89106 (version of record, 1 September 2025). https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.89106
@article{berger2025burial,
author = {Berger, Lee R and Makhubela, Tebogo Vincent and Molopyane, Keneiloe and Krüger, Ashley and Randolph-Quinney, Patrick and Elliott, Marina and Peixotto, Becca and Fuentes, Agustín and Hawks, John},
title = {Evidence for deliberate burial of the dead by Homo naledi},
journal = {eLife 12: RP89106 (version of record, 1 September 2025)},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.7554/eLife.89106},
url = {https://elifesciences.org/articles/89106}
}TY - JOUR TI - Evidence for deliberate burial of the dead by Homo naledi AU - Berger, Lee R AU - Makhubela, Tebogo Vincent AU - Molopyane, Keneiloe AU - Krüger, Ashley AU - Randolph-Quinney, Patrick AU - Elliott, Marina AU - Peixotto, Becca AU - Fuentes, Agustín AU - Hawks, John PY - 2025 JO - eLife 12: RP89106 (version of record, 1 September 2025) DO - 10.7554/eLife.89106 UR - https://elifesciences.org/articles/89106 ER -
Berger, Lee R et al.. “Evidence for deliberate burial of the dead by Homo naledi.” eLife 12: RP89106 (version of record, 1 September 2025) (2025). https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.89106.