Death, Burial & Human Evolution
Today, humans commonly bury their dead as an act of mourning and memorial - but did other extinct species of human also bury their dead? What is the underlying significance of ceremonially burying members of a community - is this something which makes humans unique? This short film examines whether two extinct (fossil) human species: Homo naledi and Homo neanderthalensis, undertook this burial practice by investigating the evidence at various fossil sites around the world.
Produced by an intrepid group of students [Dig Deeper Productions] for the course History of Life (@historyoflife7343) at the University of Galway:
Narrator and Presenter: Jack Reidy
Filming: John Walsh and Naoimh Foley
Music: Mark Shivnan
Script Writing + Storyboard: All
Human Evolution Timeline: Aurora Gifford
Editing: John Walsh
Image Sources:
Haeusler, M. & McHenry, H.M. (2004) Body proportions of Homo habilis reviewed. Journal of Human Evolution 46(4), 433–465. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2004.01.004.
Homo erectus skull fragments: https://australian.museum/learn/scien...
Excavation of Rising Star Cave: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2...
Images of Rising Star Cave Map, Map of Dinaledi Chamber, Reconstruction of the two burial features found: Berger, L.R. et al. (2023) Evidence for deliberate burial of the dead by Homo naledi. doi:10.7554/elife.89106.1.
Art depicting H. naledi burying their dead: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/sc...
Barras, C. (2015) New species of extinct human found in cave may rewrite history, New Scientist. https://www.newscientist.com/article/....
McKie, R. (2015) Scientist who found new human species accused of playing fast and loose with the truth, The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2...
Map of geographic extent of Neanderthals: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Homo_nean...
Neanderthal Skeleton: https://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/...
Exterior photo of Shanidar cave: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanida...
Shanidar Excavation: https://antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/bark...
Shanidar 1 burial and Skeleton in National Museum of Iraq: https://www.donsmaps.com/clancave.html
Hyoid bone image: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/art...