In late 2013, numerous fossilized skeletons were discovered in the Dinaledi Chambers of South Africa’s Rising Star Cave System. Upon analysis, these remains were determined to have belonged to that of a previously unknown hominin, known now as Homo naledi. Popular consensus in the scientific community have seen H. naledi’s uncovering as a highly prominent discovery, one that will have potentially large ramifications on our current understanding of humanity and its evolution throughout time. The focus of this paper aims to discuss the current research that is being done on H. naledi, specifically its morphology and its intelligence. In addition, the criticism of H. naledi is discussed, and why some in the scientific community are skeptical in …show more content…
naledi’s paints an illustrative picture on the intelligence of H. naledi. In the original discovery, four skulls were found, two belonging to males and the others to female. In their findings, the braincases were tiny- 560 cubic centimeters for the males and 460 for the females. This is far less than the average of H. erectus’s 900 cubic centimeters and well under half the size of modern humans. However, despite its evidently limited mental capacity, the findings of H. naledi interestingly show that the species may have had a ritualistic means of disposing their dead. The bones that were found were located in a highly remote chamber and are believed to have been distributed there over a large period of time. The individuals whom the bones belonged to likely did not live in the cave as there is no stone tools and remains of meals to suggest that theory. If carnivores had brought H. naledi into the cave than there would have been marks on the bones, though there were not any noted. Thus, the likely conclusion is that the bones in the cave were deliberately placed there by other members of H. naledi. Such an insinuation has left many other researchers showing complete refusal to acknowledge it. This is not the only inconsistency that others in the scientific community have noted. Indeed, like any potentially large scientific study, H. naledi has attracted many disbelievers of its