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  11. Meaning-making Behavior In A Small-brained Hominin, Homo Naledi, From The Late Pleistocene: Contexts And Evolutionary Implications

Meaning-making behavior in a small-brained hominin, Homo naledi, from the late Pleistocene: contexts and evolutionary implications

Agustín Fuentes1, Marc Kissel2, Penny Spikins3

  • 1Department of Anthropology, Princeton University, Princeton, United States.

Elife
|September 4, 2025

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View abstract on PubMed

Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Early hominin mortuary practices, specifically by Homo naledi, challenge assumptions about brain size and cognitive evolution. These findings suggest complex behaviors are not solely linked to large brains in human evolution.

Area of Science:

  • Paleoanthropology
  • Human Evolution
  • Archaeology

Background:

  • The Rising Star cave system has yielded significant hominin fossil discoveries.
  • Previous assumptions linked complex behaviors and mortuary practices to larger-brained hominins.
  • Homo naledi is a small-brained hominin species discovered in the Rising Star system.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate early evidence of mortuary practices in hominins.
  • To examine the behavioral and cognitive implications of these practices attributed to Homo naledi.
  • To challenge established notions regarding encephalization and its role in human evolution.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of hominin remains and associated artifacts within the Dinaledi Subsystem.
  • Comparative study of mortuary behaviors across different hominin species and locations.
Keywords:
Homo nalediPleistoceneencephalization/cognitionevolutionary biology

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  • Re-evaluation of the relationship between brain size, cognition, and complex behaviors.

    • Main Results:

    • Evidence suggests Homo naledi engaged in mortuary practices, potentially including funerary behaviors.
    • These findings expand the phylogenetic breadth of such behaviors in early hominins.
    • Complex meaning-making activities are associated with a small-brained hominin species.

    Conclusions:

    • Large brains are not the sole drivers of human-like behavioral complexity.
    • The hominin socio-cognitive niche is more diverse than previously understood.
    • Cognitive advances and technological development may not be exclusively linked to encephalization.
    human evolution
    meaning-making
    mortuary behavior