What we know and do not know after the first decade of Homo naledi

Abstract

It has been just over 10 years since the first fossils attributed to Homo naledi were recovered from the Rising Star Cave system in South Africa’s Cradle of Humankind. The hominin fossil evidence for H. naledi displays a distinctive combination of primitive and derived morphology, yet for a time-averaged fossil sample it is remarkable for its relatively low level of variation. Thus—unusually for palaeoanthropology—there has been little pushback against the decision to recognize a single novel taxon for all of the material recovered from the Rising Star Cave system. However, almost everything else claimed about H. naledi—its age, burial context and behaviour—has been controversial. Here we examine the strength of the evidence for these claims. Ten years after the discovery of Homo naledi, the authors explore the various anatomical and behavioural evidence accumulated for this intriguing species.