Homo Naledi and the Cave of Bones Controversy - TAS 246

What this episode covers

This week we tackle one of our favorite topics - controversy! Last summer, the team working on the Rising Star Cave site in South Africa released a series of pre-prints making some incredible claims about the pre-human species, Homo Naledi. They were closely followed by the Netflix documentary, Cave of Bones which captured the attention of the public. However, other researchers are pushing back, claiming lack of solid evidence and published peer reviewed research. Join us while we look at both sides of the debate, and let us know where you land! Links * Controversial Claims About Homo Naledi Are Stirring Up Evolution [https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/homo-naledi-burial-critique-0020003] * Enigmatic Hominin Seemingly Buried Dead and Carved Symbols 100,000 Years Before Modern Humans [https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-evolution-human-origins/homo-naledi-burials-0018582] * Unknown: Cave of Bones - Netflix Documentary [https://www.netflix.com/title/81473682] * No scientific evidence that Homo Naledi buried their dead and produced rock art [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0047248423001434] * Cave of Bones Explorer's Club Talk with Dr. Lee Berger [https://www.youtube.com/live/cIrV_fgfrs8?si=7zdQKsn85GsR0AK8] * 241,000 to 335,000 Years Old Rock Engravings Made by Homo naledi in the Rising Star Cave system, South Africa [https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.01.543133v1] Contact * Chris Webster [email protected] * Rachel Roden [email protected] RachelUnraveled (Instagram) [https://www.instagram.com/rachelunraveled/] ArchPodNet * APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com [https://www.archpodnet.com/] * APN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnet * APN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnet * APN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnet * Tee Public Store: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/archaeology-podcast-network?ref_id=5724 Affiliates * Motion [https://www.archpodnet.com/motion]: https://www.archpodnet.com/motion * Motley Fool Save $110 off the full list price of Stock Advisor for your first year, go to  https://zen.ai/apnfool and start your investing journey today! *$110 discount off of $199 per year list price. Membership will renew annually at the then current list price. * Liquid I.V. Ready to shop better hydration, use my special link https://zen.ai/thearchaeologypodnetworkfeed to save 20% off anything you order.