Geological and taphonomic context for the new hominin species Homo naledi from the Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa

Paul HGM Dirks, Lee R Berger, Eric M Roberts et al., 2015. eLife 4: e09561.

Sets out the cave, the sediment units and the taphonomy of the Dinaledi assemblage: almost no other large fauna, no carnivore or water transport, and no route by which the bones could have washed in. Concludes that bodies entered the chamber deliberately or by accident through a route like the present one, and raises deliberate body disposal as the favoured option.

Homo naledi and the Rising Star burial claimsArticledoi: 10.7554/eLife.09561Checked against the original0

What it's used for here

The original taphonomic case and the sediment unit definitions every later paper uses.

Cited by on this site 8 records

Individuals entered the subsystem alive, for refuge or exploration, and died there, singly or in groups.

Answer

ANS

Living H. naledi carried or dragged their dead into the subsystem.

Answer

ANS

Through the present route, including the Chute.

Answer

ANS

No carnivore marks, no water-sorting and almost no other large fauna in the Dinaledi assemblage.

Evidence

EVD

The near-absence of other animals is hard to square with a natural trap open to the surface.

Evidence

EVD

Steven Tucker and Rick Hunter find hominin bones in the Dinaledi Chamber

EVT

Homo naledi and the Rising Star burial claims

The mystery article

MYS

How did the remains of many Homo naledi individuals come to lie in the dark chambers of the Dinaledi Subsystem?

Question

QST

Cite it

Dirks, P. H., Berger, L. R., Roberts, E. M., Kramers, J. D., Hawks, J., Randolph-Quinney, P. S., Elliott, M., & Musiba, C. M. (2015). Geological and taphonomic context for the new hominin species Homo naledi from the Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa. eLife 4: e09561. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.09561

@article{dirks2015geological,
  author = {Dirks, Paul HGM and Berger, Lee R and Roberts, Eric M and Kramers, Jan D and Hawks, John and Randolph-Quinney, Patrick S and Elliott, Marina and Musiba, Charles M},
  title = {Geological and taphonomic context for the new hominin species Homo naledi from the Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa},
  journal = {eLife 4: e09561},
  year = {2015},
  doi = {10.7554/eLife.09561},
  url = {https://elifesciences.org/articles/09561}
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Geological and taphonomic context for the new hominin species Homo naledi from the Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa
AU  - Dirks, Paul HGM
AU  - Berger, Lee R
AU  - Roberts, Eric M
AU  - Kramers, Jan D
AU  - Hawks, John
AU  - Randolph-Quinney, Patrick S
AU  - Elliott, Marina
AU  - Musiba, Charles M
PY  - 2015
JO  - eLife 4: e09561
DO  - 10.7554/eLife.09561
UR  - https://elifesciences.org/articles/09561
ER  -

Dirks, Paul HGM et al.. “Geological and taphonomic context for the new hominin species Homo naledi from the Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa.” eLife 4: e09561 (2015). https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.09561.