World's oldest burial site discovered – in pictures

The remains belong to Homo naledi, a species at the crossroads between apes and modern humans

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  Professor Lee Berger, palaeontologist, explorer and member of The National Geographic Society, poses for a portrait in the Rising Star caves system in The Cradle of Human Kind, on May 11, 2023. The news shakes the foundations of human evolution: world-renowned paleontologist Lee Berger announced on Monday that he had discovered the oldest graves ever found in South Africa, pushing back the first traces of mortuary practices by some 100,000 years . The oldest tombs discovered so far were found in Israel and Egypt at the beginning of the 20th century. They date from around 100,000 years before our era and house the remains of Homo sapiens, the direct ancestor of man. The burials unearthed in South Africa date from -200,000 to -300,000 years. (Photo by Luca Sola / AFP)

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  The remains belong to Homo naledi, a 1.5-metre-tall species at the crossroads between apes and modern humans, with brains the size of oranges

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  Prof Berger, a palaeontologist, says his discovery at the Rising Star caves in South Africa pushes back the first evidence of burial practices by at least 100,000 years

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  The oldest tombs discovered so far, in Israel and Egypt, are about 100,000 years old, while Prof Berger's were created between 200,000 and 300,000 years ago

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  The main entrance of the Rising Star cave system in the Cradle of Humankind, a UNESCO world heritage site near Johannesburg

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  The specimens of Homo naledi - which climbed trees - are buried about 30 metres underground

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  The graves show burial practices were not limited to Homo sapiens - modern man - or other early human species with large brains, the researchers said

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