Naledi has shaken notions of our origins
HOMO naledi surprise.
Homo naledi died thousands of years ago deep in the bowels of the Earth, far from any human eyes. But now it’s been unearthed from its secret burial chamber for the benefit of science and mankind.
It is sacrilegious to disturb it from its resting place after all these years, but science will stop at nothing, even going deep into space or the bowels of the Earth to seek answers on the origins of man.
When Homo naledi was brought to the surface to the glare of the cameras, it caused great excitement in the scientific world.
The spectacular discovery was hailed as a “breakthrough for mankind” and has shaken our notions of our origins. Theories and speculations are rife. What did it have in store for us? Was it another missing link in human evolution? How old was it and how did it come to rest so deep in the Dinaledi Chamber, which is so dark, foreboding and inaccessible?
After extensive testing of the fossils, scientist have concluded that Homo naledi was not as old as first thought, but much younger, from the Stone Age, probably between 335 000 and 236 000 years ago (“Homo naledi skull finding”, Daily News, May 9).
What is even more surpris- continues to ing is that a new fossil star named Neo was found almost intact in another chamber in the Rising Cave System in the Cradle of Humankind. How did they come to rest in two chambers?
They couldn’t have all fallen accidentally into them, supporting the scientists’ hypothesis that this new species of hominid with a brain the size of an orange disposed of their dead deep underground. The question of how they made their way into the pitch dark chambers arises. They must have used fire to light their way. And if they knew how to make fire, could they not have made tools?
Another surprise is that Homo naledi is the fourth hominid discovered that most probably lived side by side with modern man.
Just as there are different types of cats, antelopes, aquatic animals and birds, we have different species in the primate family.
It puts paid to the biblical theory of creation that man was the only intelligent creature on Earth.
If our Earth is teeming with life, is it not reasonable to conclude that we are not alone in the vast universe?
How I wish we could contact them some day. T MARKANDAN
Silverglen