Homo Naledi - New Questions On Human Evolution

[@StefanMilo]

Basically, basically, basically....thanks for watching! Videos mentioned in the video: Paranthropus - kzbin.info/www/bejne/oqulqHmeZcmMf9U How did early hominins dispose of the dead? - kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZqC2i2qooNGcsJo Basically.

[@martind349]

No one expects the Spanish Inquisition.

[@marshmallowmonster7731]

Stefan by the small brain you mean brain size or brain to body ratio?

[@Madferreiro]

What evidence do we have of human/neanderthal, human/denisovan cultural interaction and exchange?

[@tsopmocful1958]

I find it easy to speculate that different hominins didn't really take much notice of each other if encounters happened, just as different species of animals kind of don't take notice of other closely related animals in the same environment. If they're not a threat, competition or targetted for use like food, they would just be part of the scenery and given their own space just like different species of monkeys living in close proximity do with each other. We would be much more curious only because of how we are now, but even local modern people who existed around chimps for ages probably just took them for granted, though noting their similarity, and unless really wanting to eat them, would probably not want to disturb them very much as they do look potentially dangerous, just like we sensibly leave a big troop of wild monkeys or baboons alone. As for the remain's location, as soon as I heard about it on the news I imagined that being a bit smarter than chimps, the local population may have developed a kind of cultural habit of just throwing their dead down a well known hole in the area simply because they didn't like the dead bodies hanging around, and not for any ritual burial reasons. It's easy to imagine that looking at a corpse would be gruesome enough and smelly enough, as well as attracting unwanted vermin and predators that just getting rid of it would be desired, with ready memories of what has happened before. It certainly explains no tools or other things, and their deposition over time.

[@richern2717]

@@Madferreiro If I remember correctly there is some evidence of exchange in the Caves of the Altai Mountains...

[@Henry-ep6qy]

Sir, I’m not sure if you’re new to KZbin but please don’t link sources in the description. It makes it difficult for us to make baseless vitriolic claims in the comment section.

[@StefanMilo]

Comment of the day

[@scottparis6355]

Actually READING those sources would interfere with my Constitutional right to make baseless vitriolic claims. Reading is hard, anyway.

[@andrew30m]

Brilliant🤣😅😅 and where’s the speculation that they may have been aliens.

[@carolelerman9686]

Then don't read them.

[@davehallett3128]

Nice

[@TheDeadlyDan]

What always comes to my mind regarding the Naledi is that we'd have never known of them except by this accidental discovery, even though this is one of the most heavily searched areas of the world for hominid traces. Makes me wonder how many other specie were there that disposed of the dead such that there would be no trace at all left.

[@caseyjude5472]

It wasn’t accidental though- the two cavers were looking for bones. In fact, a caver had made it into that chamber sometimes in the 80’s (a lone cave flag was found) but they didn’t know/understand what they were looking at. Or didn’t even see it. Upon the release of Google Earth, Dr. Berger was able to discover the remnants of caves that hadn’t been noticed nor explored/investigated all around the cradle of human kind. Two years before Naledi, his team discovered Australopithecus Sediba. His teams have been exploring several cave sites ever since. Right now they’re working on a new discovery found at one of those sites, a known cave that was never investigated by “fossil hunters”. Cave site 105 had been blown up by miners at the turn of the century, explored by modern spelunkers, and the movie Tremors filmed a scene there. But no one ever looked for fossils there. So far the discovery is just being called the hominid of site 105 as we eagerly await its details. Could be an already known hominid like Sediba or Naledi, or it could be another new discovery. The remains are encased in breccia, so it’s gonna take a bit longer to figure out. You can follow their progress on social medias.

[@ericgeremillo4756]

Lets take a moment of gratitude..because he spent jis time explaining despite how no one would pay attention to it because its too long..(no offense..)

[@P.Subaeruginosa]

Well we find new sites around the world all the time that were filled in by the occupants before they vanished so it's not a bad train of thought to go down.

[@uncannyvalley2350]

Like the 160kyo H longi, Or how many survived to this day and despite tens of thousands of witnesses, are dismissed as "crazy whack a do" Cough cough *Paranthropus aka Bigfoot*

[@bluemanno7901]

I've thought about that, like what if for hundreds of thousands of years there was a huge practice of burning the dead hominids after they died? Homo erectus was around for over 1 million years, and they discovered fire pretty early on.

[@pallexa]

My father died in 2009. Every time there's a new discovery or advances in science it make me think " I wish he was alive to see this." Especially when they decoded the Neanderthal genome. Thanks for the great videos.

[@Matthew10950]

Just think...someday you will be on your elderly deathbed, ruing the things you will not get to see and your children will remember you when new things are found and deciphered. This is the human condition.

[@oldschool3484]

pallexa All the while you’re Dad now has the Creator telling him, can you believe they believe in this Made up nonsense ? Anything but me ,they will believe, until they come and meet me.

[@pallexa]

@@oldschool3484 sorry but my father is probably meeting a devil. Actually he never believed in the imaginary man in the sky. Or hell for that matter.

[@oldschool3484]

pallexa well that is very sad . Even the Devil knows GOD is real, and one of the Biggest tricks he has ever done, was to convince people that GOD doesn’t exist. Don’t be that fool. I would imagine if your Dad loved or cared for you in any way, he would be pleading with you to come to the knowledge of GOD and the eternal Salvation through the blood JESUS CHRIST. I can guarantee it. It’s very simple. It’s humbleness and a heart thing. Admit your a sinner like everyone else, acknowledge Jesus as Your personal LORD and Savior and let him change your heart. I challenge you to do so.

[@Matthew10950]

@@oldschool3484 Fools like you are what make this world a madhouse. I'd feel bad for you, but I know you cant change. The next generation will have less of you and we'll have to be content with that.

[@rarusnak]

It appears according to the latest excavations featured in a Netflix doc, that evidence of fires in the cave and a possible tool with one child skeleton. Hashtag-like grooved markings have now also been identified at the entrance to the Dinaledi burial chamber. Very interesting doc "Cave of Bones". Love your channel, Thanks Stefan!

[@Buc_eesGrackle]

I would love to hear what Stefan has to say about the claims made in this documentary. They made some compelling arguments, but it's absolutely wild to think about.

[@txzk26]

I'm never trusting any Netflix documentaries. They're often filled with bullshit.

[@Audioobscure]

He needs to review it. Very sensational, hard to believe

[@jarrodmartin3566]

This documentary/paper has stirred up a massive uproar in the archaeological community with a lot of experts seeming to agree that the evidence isn’t really there and is wildly exaggerated with it being pushed out only to make a documentary. Who knows though, could be true but as of right now I don’t think there’s enough evidence to make a call either way 😀

[@IgorEngelen1974]

Saw it today and then vaguely remembered this vid. A review video would indeed be nice.

[@Reginaldesq]

Welcome to Naledi night club. All tools and weapons must be left at the door.

[@gethinrees1]

I find your presentation style so refreshing. Please don't become another clone! Keep up to good work.

[@dalion6443]

Anthony 223 stfu

[@juriaanoussoren]

I find youre presentation style so refreshing.Please don't become a other clone! Keep up the good work.

[@mtggeeksgaming5064]

@Anthony 223 Dude comments are for people to give feedback lmao. You probably use them to troll, but normal people use them to make positive feedback like the person you are bellitling.

[@stevehansberger8726]

Would like to communicate with you to discuss primitive hominid minds. I am a published author..

[@raslasagne]

i agree, i can actually take the info in

[@scottparis6355]

Isn't this the cave for which they had to gather a team of physically tiny female paleontologists/anatomists/anthropologists who also had spelunking experience? That's a pretty interesting story too.

[@moonshine588]

Yes

[@TipOfAfrica0010]

Yes, there's a mini documentary on how they went about recruiting them. They came from different parts of the globe and were sworn to secrecy.

[@andrew30m]

Talk about a niche job🤣

[@TipOfAfrica0010]

@Current Batches, Definitely not!! and I'm one of those. The first time I went down into one of the caves in this very area, u go down 60 metres, most of it u can walk however there's a spot where u have to either crawI or go thru in a crouching position for about 10 meters. Panic set in and I promptly turned around and was walking back against people that were lining up to go thru. Quite embarrassing I must say however I did go thru it about an hour later. I did hyperventilate my way thru though...🥵🥵

[@scottparis6355]

I'm outraged that I was discriminated against for this team, simply because I'm 6"2" tall and weigh 210lbs.

[@AtunSheiFilms]

Masterful placement of the mid roll ad. I can never get it right.

[@StefanMilo]

It's an art form

[@kathryngeeslin9509]

A rarely mastered art form.

[@robertisham5279]

@@StefanMilo You're very chilled in your videos.

[@alexruddies1718]

I was gonna say something about your channel...but I couldn't come up with anything at the moment. I guess I'm the one in checkmate here...

[@PoleTooke]

Alex Ruddies no

[@TipOfAfrica0010]

I think it was after two years of studying Naledi thay they announced the discovery to the world here in South Africa which kinda gripped the country like no other discovery had in recent memory. They had the bones on display at Maropeng in The Cradle of Humankind. Hundreds of people turned up, some were really disappointed as they were expecting more than just bones. Just what they were hoping to see is beyond me...

[@BallBatteryReligion]

We really do love for things to be fantastical and over the top don't we? But for sure, not sure what they were expecting lol. The fact that we're able to find ANYTHING from so long ago is incredible really. Just thinking about all the variables and length of time, and all the things we'll never find; the fact that we're able to discover as much we have/can is amazing. Even if it's "just bones."

[@ElLenadorLA]

Cites 15 different academic sources and still says “I might be wrong.” Now THAT is refreshing. Polar opposite of all the pseudoscience garbage on KZbin. Great work!

[@nicksalvatore5717]

WolraadWoltemade 1652 stop drinking the koolaid

[@PeanutPotSauce]

I love how you keep showing these types of primitive humans who I never heard about before

[@aleka..]

@Kingvanko Infinite stop pasting that "rape is human nature" bs projecting much?

[@TheCookieGamer523]

They're Hominids my friend, not quite human.They're more closely related to us than they are other great apes but they're not humans. It's like how the animals that eventually became dogs were more similar to modern dogs than they were wolves, however they're not quite the same as modern dogs.

[@jimmyschmidt14]

@Kingvanga Infinite we probably killed them all. they weren't mated with save erectus, neanderthal and denisova all of which are still alive in living peoples dna. Is Naledi the ancestor of black Africans?

[@retroactivecontinuity3622]

Jimmy Schmidt - Only Caucasians and Mongols have non-human (Neandethal, monkey etc) DNA. Black Africans have full human genetics. So I doubt this is their ancestor. www.universityherald.com/articles/70130/20170321/harvard-researcher-says-africans-are-100-pure-human-than-the-rest.htm

[@practicalintuition4030]

Do you think that they would have enjoyed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? I think so.

[@JT_Soul]

I would imagine that the cave was already quite an enclosed space or difficult to access when they were deposited there. If it had been easily accessible, then, regardless of how the bodies got there, they presumably would have been scavenged by carnivores after they were deposited.

[@StefanMilo]

Very good point

[@BlacksmithTWD]

I would even imagine the possibility that the bodies were disposed elsewhere but ended up in the cave by means of a natural pehomenon. For instance a river or landslide. It could explain the lack of evidence for human activity.

[@miriamkelly3106]

@@BlacksmithTWD That is a good point. We know the earth shifts/moves. Is there a possibility that the cave structure was different and had an easier access point back then? Have the geologist explored the "growth" of the cave given then timeline?

[@BlacksmithTWD]

@@miriamkelly3106 With the information we got we can only speculate alas. Though it demonstrates one of the phenomenons when practiciting scientific research : Trying to get the answer to one questions results in becoming aware of a whole bunch of other questions we don't know the answer to either.

[@catelynh1020]

Hello from the future. I actually learned about this from gutsick gibbon's channel, but because the bodies had been added over a longer course of time (ie, not a single event) and were still mostly articulate (their bodies entered as a single piece and did not get jumbled around once inside), their being there makes it reasonable that it was intentional to some extent. Whether this would be from curious goers getting trapped and dying (perhaps less likely as only naledi skeletons have been found in that space to my knowledge and nothing was brought with them) or it was a form of intentional burial to avoid bringing in scavengers. It was a while after this video came out, but later teams did find evidence of fire in the caves and even bones of small animals in and around the "hearths" (didn't sound like evidence of cooking, more of disposal or maybe ritual). Dating the site is difficult so it could have been a different group later, but a minor command of fire used in the larger sections of the cave would help to explain how they were able to navigate through the darkness of the cave system to get to that area where the bones were found.

[@caseyjude5472]

The cavers were sent to explore the caves in the cradle of humankind to specifically look for homin or other remains. They only escavated a small area of the chamber, at the bottom of the chute, and they only went down about a meter. There are lots more remains in the chamber, including some where a stalactite developed on top of it. There’s way more than 1500, and it is so exciting! Thanks for this video!

[@pacotaco1246]

Really!!!? Any links???

[@caseyjude5472]

@@pacotaco1246 watch NOVA’s “Dawn of Humanity”-it’s excellent. One of my favorite NOVAs. Here on KZbin you can watch talks by Dr. Marina Elliott, Dr. Lee Berger & Dr. John Hawks. They are excellent speakers & not at all dry or boring.

[@ProperZen]

Love your work Stefan. Always a treat to see a new video from you pop-up. You do great research, provide the papers for us to read ourselves and you have a great wit.

[@jesserowlingsify]

No idea how I stumbled across your videos Stefan (started with the one on Azores) but they are fantastic. Great presentation style from you, awesome sense of humour and brilliant content. Ill just keep quietly binging these til I run out. This channel deserves way more followers.

[@MrFonsdus]

Thanks Stef'! Here's another 'weird' thing. I've visited Madagascar frequently. The 'eightth continent' as it is often called got 'officially' inhabited bij Borneons (yes, all the way from Borneo) around 2000 years ago. They brought rice along, and a habit of building square houses (Africans used to live in round huts). 500 years later arab/semite traders shipwrecked on the island, with a kind of proto-Quran (I do have a modern copy), another 500 years later Africans crossed the Strait with their zebu's, and around 1500 AD white sailors planted their boots on the beaches. However, there's plenty of stories circulating on the island about Vazimba's, small people integrated by the newcomers, although there still seem to be survivors in seclusive villages (I think I saw some of these poor fellows on the streets of bigger towns, shy, lost) and what's even more exciting (from an anthropological point of view): there's persistent rumors of an even older, extinct, pygmy-like human that lived in those early days on the island... Difficult to get any hard data, many stories, not too many facts. Nevertheless, Madagascar is a very enigmatic place... even nowadays - it's flora and fauna is nowhere else to be seen, weird is kind of normal.

[@sonikku956]

Wasn't there evidence that humans were on the island some 10,000 years ago?

[@henrirousseau9541]

I'll always remember Gore Vidal's crack about a retro colony of hairy Italians living in New Jersey.

[@MrFonsdus]

the thing is: it isn't that 'easy' crossing the Strait of Mozambique (on driftwood - like the few mammals that happened to arrive on the island?), 'cause of the current. That's why it toke Africans that long to 'find' Madagascar. You have to start sailing all the way up from Somalia...

[@torbjornlekberg7756]

Sounds like burial to me. It amazes me how much people, even scientists, underestimate the mental capability of creatures they dont yet fully understand.

[@damonbridge3124]

Tell me about it. Even elephants will cover their dead with brush and leaves, even elephants not from their herd. And it would only make sense that we figured out burying the dead= less predators being attracted

[@dwightehowell8179]

More like hiding them from predators.

[@torbjornlekberg7756]

@@damonbridge3124 True. This makes me think of crows wich, while not burying their dead, gathers around them in a silent moment of (I assume) mourning, before flying away. From a practical stand point, burying the dead also means less risk of illness.

[@santaclawwws5384]

What if they were herbivors? The plant remnants would decompose and not leave archeological evidence. The Hominins could than have had multiple purposes for the cave to use: Storage, Living and Burialsites.

[@brittoncooper1251]

You have to be careful about applying behaviors and social attributes without evidence. Making assumptions about behavior is how we got the classical 'caveman' depiction of Neanderthals which have been found to be far more complex than originally thought because of the archaeological evidence.

[@anónymos_24]

I love this channel 50% for the content, 50% the guy's accent.

[@Fomites]

Australian?

[@Q_QQ_Q]

@@Fomites no

[@bozo5632]

Serbo-Canadian.

[@jrt818]

South African? Saw an American paleontologist and his son who was speaking with a South African accent.

[@Matthew10950]

Man, save 10 percent for a polite, intelligent comment section!

[@KipIngram]

10:55 - Yes, this IS fascinating. It's like a modern mystery novel, only from ages ago. Totally captivating!

[@JakeBaron]

I truly and wholeheartedly enjoy and look forward to all of your content. Please do continue to spread knowledge across the world. I and I’d assume many others, appreciate what you’re doing here. Much love from Cananda

[@a-bloke-named-chris9805]

It's always interesting to speculate what customs and culture our hominid cousins and ancestors had. Great video, keep up the good work.

[@jaystreet46]

Agreed! It’s mind blowing to me how much information that can be inferred from such relatively little evidence.

[@jameshumphrey9939]

whales were the highest intelligence then .... maybe still are .... or octopus anyway

[@ettore_mazza]

Stefan, it's incredible how fast can grow your beard. From 6:15 to 10:25, you got in 4 minutes what I can grow in more than a month!

[@StefanMilo]

Lol continuity error! What continuity error?

[@ettore_mazza]

It is a super power

[@krishna-e-bera]

he may be specimen 1 in a new subspecies!

[@ettore_mazza]

@@krishna-e-bera Homo beardensis

[@vmitchinson]

There was a scientific study done about 40 years ago that found that the more men think about sex the faster their beard grew.

[@hilliard665]

I think this channel is in my top 5 favourites right now, I love the presentation, the subjects, the information, its all great, and I like the personality you bring, ties it all together so well imho

[@StefanMilo]

Thanks man, I try my best.

[@pacificswell]

So many questions: did they have language that helped them hunt, gather food, and take care of their young? Also, their ability to walk upright (bipedalism) plays a major influence for brain growth, it gave them cognitive ability to forge for food, plan hunts, possibly cook meat, and socialization. There’s a lot to learn from our ancestors, so thanks for sharing, it’ll help us more understand how we evolved.

[@orestisstavrakidis3116]

New subscriber here, and most likely a patreon soon. I'm so happy I found this channel and I've been consuming your content at a very fast pace. Many things I knew, many I didn't. But even the ones I knew, I've been now given a whole new refreshing perspective. The quality of the content is superb and something that's really missing from this platform. The research questions, the delivery, the artwork, the humor, the respectful handling of scientific uncertainty, the citations. You sir are a breath of fresh air on youtube. Keep up this excellent work. thank you

[@thinktonka]

I had a horrible day at work...this video was the perfect way to unwind! Thanks to my favorite KZbinr!!! Thank you Stefan!!!!

[@jackgreen3501]

Every single time I see you've uploaded a new video I end up loving it so much. You're amazing, thank you

[@nachoisone]

Thanks for adding credible sources. It’s super late in the am rn and I’m down a rabbit hole of information. Big up!! Thank you! 🙂

[@jwvandegronden]

Many went before me, but I have to compliment you with your style, intonation, soothing voice, clear concise well supported arguments as broadly angled and with an abundance of details supporting any theory you come across. And it is actually calming me down, without loosing a thread, and keeping me engaged. Love your long forms exactly for this reason: without any exaggeration I can say both content wise and presentation they are such a welcome treat to tired ears and eyes!

[@diktatoralexander88]

Ahh here to watch a relaxing video about human history. Stefan: "Crawling through spaces only a few centimeters wide" Me: Ummm I came for history not nightmares

[@oldschool3484]

Diktator Alexander maybe your ancestors, not mine. Mine didn’t evolve from freaks and mom Monkeys, maybe yours did. Mine were created from GOD, in his image..

[@josericardoperezballestero7375]

old school evolution is a fact but Adam and Eve is just a fairy tale

[@sonkeschluter3654]

all these strange hominids, well from somewhere all the sagas about dwarfs and trolls have to come

[@RickMason-yj7pv]

Could be.

[@stevenobrien557]

I think dwarves came from dwarves.

[@quijybojanklebits8750]

Actually no, they come from Norse and Celtic mythologies. Tolkien, was a linguist that focused on Saxon and Celtic languages and culture.

[@jakkeledin4645]

Tolkien use Finnish and Karelian mytologia too.

[@marlonbryanmunoznunez3179]

There is not only the dwarves and the Fae. In many tropical countries of Africa, Asia and America, there are legends of forest or jungle people, and small people in general. Some antropologists atributed them to confusions and misidentification of apes and monkeys, however this kind of things makes you wonder. Modern humans meet some of these creatures for sure. I wonder if they could comunicate in some way.

[@robertkirby8685]

Homo Naledi: Making human evolution more confusing since 2013.

[@adb4522]

@Kingvanko Infinite Why you are so fixiated with rape, do you got a story to tell? If yes youtube is probably not the right place. But with prehistory we have mostly evidence of hard non-composting stuff, so any idea about the spreading of DNA via violent or other non consenting method is very speculative. Perhaps it happens this way sometimes in prehistory, but i am positiv man an believe that in a egalitarian society you are more dependent on the well beieng of your surrounding people. Because if don´t comply to basic rules,you could end with a knife on you throat.

[@daca8395]

@Kingvanga Infinite what a hell?

[@michaeltyrrell3381]

Not that confusing really, hey had no burial practice so they put the bodies of the dead where they would not attract predators.

[@xaindsleena8090]

Fascinating video. I wondered what the latest news on homo neladi was. Thanks for bringing us up to date

[@pcka12]

Michael Tyrrell that sounds suspiciously like ‘a burial practice’!

[@MrDroenix]

Always a pleasure to watch your videos Stefan Milo!

[@RavenIsAnArtist]

I like how this channel makes learning fun. I'm highly fascinated in human evolution, and human relatives!

[@jaystreet46]

Oh what I would give for the ability to travel back in time to see these things for myself! The dinosaurs, the options are unlimited!

[@jaystreet46]

laser325 what an insightful comment. That’s sarcasm just in case it goes over your head.

[@killgora1]

Very interesting. These are my favorite kind of videos you make. I love learning about prehistory, and our distant ancestors and their branch offs from our section of the tree.

[@harper277]

Evolution doesn’t have trajectory it has selection pressure. It could always select traits that lead in an unexpected direction if conditions change.

[@sneeringimperialist6667]

Evolution only works when you die before leaving living offspring. All of the other random mutation traits are dragged along for the ride.

[@letyvasquez2025]

Gavin Harper If evolution has no trajectory, is that why I occasionally observe evolution working in a non entropic way? Darren Bauer So a proper working model of a species evolution would include a species’ offspring emerging to life before the death of its parent?

[@jameshumphrey9939]

not in a tiny time frame

[@roachkid2818]

Aka evolving

[@harper277]

@@letyvasquez2025 life is an anti entropy machine, genes matter organisms don’t. Maybe you mean an elegant characteristic has a survival advantage and becomes refined, that’s not entropy. The children are more thermodynamically stable because age radiates disorder that’s entropy.

[@davetubervid]

Thank you Stefan for all your videos.. They are very informative and clear, as well as summarising the current evidence about our evolution.

[@ghoffmn6832]

Stefan-I love your vids: always very comfortable, understandable and interesting presentations of complex ideas. Thx!

[@VasileIuga]

What if one kid or adult wanted to explore the chamber of the cave they inhabited and got lost? Then others searched him there and couldn't find the exit. Then, probably, future generations of curious Naledi wanted to see what is with that part of the cave that made people disappear or the process just repeated with Naledi getting lost and being searched? So more and more Naledi were trapped there. I presume the chamber exit will be impossible to find without a light, being so narrow. Dragging a corpse is very hard, especially in a narrow place, so the the graveyard theory is very unlikely for this reason. Kids always want to explore new places forbidden to them and parents always will try to find them at any cost.

[@shanemiller2046]

That's an interesting supposition. I have always thought this whole discovery to be a bit fishy.... Something just doesn't add up. Then the 300k YBP just blew me away. It upends everything I thought I knew about not only H. Naledi , but our.lineage as well.

[@aleka..]

plausible...

[@ingenuity168]

I agree. To me, it's not a burial chamber. Dragging dead bodies through the narrow spaces where explorers need to crawl on their stomachs to get through is not feasible.

[@jackd1582]

AHA !

[@jackd1582]

@Somali Kid because they kept having stupid kids

[@Great_Olaf5]

Love these kinds of videos. Human evolution fascinates me, basically anything about humans until shortly after the Neolithic revolution is interesting, but I have a focus on the origin of language and culture, and how various hominids interacted with each other. I like to think that some form of language is actually a lot older than we typically give credence to, especially since we so often look for physiological evidence for the changes to our vocal tract that indicate the potential for oral speech, but there's a growing theory that manual speech (handsign language) predates that. Bit of a tangent from this video, but what I'm getting at is that simpler manual languages might have existed this far back, and might have allowed for communication between hominids, even ones as archaic as the Naledi, seeing as their fingers are largely structured the same, and sign language has been successfully replicated (I hesitate to say taught or understood) by other great apes. So your speculation on Sapiens and Naledi interacting in a meaningful way might not be impossible. Keep up the good work.

[@genuzaviana6502]

.m

[@erixouther]

I've been watching naledi videos for 3 straight days, and you drop this. Get out of my brain

[@jdr9419]

Great job. Thanks for listing your sources as you do. Very professional.

[@papel5593]

love your videos on human evolution :) Thanks for listing sources!

[@dstinnettmusic]

Wow. I've never seen anyone do in-video citations. Kudos to you for that. I sincerely hope that becomes the norm on educational content going forward. It's nice when videos have sources but it is sometimes unreasonable to just say "Well the sources are right there" when you have questions about one section in a 15-30 minute KZbin video.

[@lesliesylvan]

David. Agreed. One must always question the self-professed experts. Biased tend to latch onto ego, which often limits and frustrates others thinking outside that restricive box. Huzzahs for the uncaged mind!

[@lesliesylvan]

@Kingvanko Infinite 💯 😁 Worked pretty well for Bonobos

[@martijnbouman8874]

Some videos add timestamps to their sources. It's little effort but very helpful for those people interested in them.

[@dstinnettmusic]

Kingvanko Infinite that....seems unrelated to my comment

[@aleka..]

@@dstinnettmusic There's a social justice activist's channel EssenceOfThought that does that, provides timestamps of other people's videos, so you can check there's no misrepresenting/out of context, provides their transcript, and all that... It's really... another level of professionalism and support for their claims. Definitely more creators should do it.

[@jackkessler9876]

One reason for putting the dead in inaccessible places is to prevent scavengers from eating the corpses.

[@Raycheetah]

@Lazarus Zoolander 2:06 Infants were found in the chamber. They didn't wander in on their own, and it's difficult to imagine a scenario in which an adult would carry an infant into a pitch black cave, groping blindly into the dark until reaching the terminal chamber, and then simply staying put. It's not like any remains were found along the passage into Dinaledi chamber, nor is the path a difficult one to retrace, even in absolute darkness. ='[.]'=

[@johnterpack3940]

@Lazarus Zoolander chimps don't use fire, why would these? Chimps don't make stone tools, why would these? It's an irrelevant argument.

[@3gunslingers]

Even chimps use caves. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070412082939.htm www.nbcnews.com/id/18057867/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/chimps-spotted-using-caves/ But the few bodies seem the have been deposited over many centuries: _"The layered distribution of the bones [in clay-rich sediments] suggests that they had been deposited over a long period of time, perhaps centuries."_ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rising_Star_Cave#2013_and_2014_excavations Seems more like every couple decades an individual wandered off and fell down the chute. The fact that 9 immature and 6 adults were found, indicates to me that they were just a tad too curious.

[@jameshumphrey9939]

a horrid sight for the kids

[@jameshumphrey9939]

@@johnterpack3940 mine do!

[@PeteKellyHistory]

I see new Stefan Milo. I watch

[@PhoenixFires9]

Just found your videos today. I’m enjoying them immensely. Thanks!

[@ericdelossantos1]

I love these kinds of videos. Our history of biology and evolution is fascinating.

[@JohnnyRadovic85]

Hvala ti Stefane na ovim videima, nemaš pojma koliko si mi sreće doneo. Mnoge od ovih stvari sam pokušavao da saznam godinama, sve dok nisi počeo sa ovim kanalom. My deepest admiration professor!

[@shruggzdastr8-facedclown]

Production kudos to you, Stefan, for the use of the Naledi hand to make the "A" in "NALEDI" for the graphic at the opening of this video (after your intro for it, that is)!

[@ironsnowflake1076]

What a beautiful vid this was, the forest was gorgeous & the graveyard tugged my heartstrings with the inscriptions for the long-ago beloved dead......and speaking of graveyards, in my personal intuition, I think morning star cave is a graveyard of sorts...I do believe they were moved by & reverent of death....I daydream often of what our hominid ancestors were like, how they loved, what they meant to eachother, what they thought of the world & their place in it. 👍

[@lawrencesolkoski1356]

MUCH RHETORIC FOR SURE,,,

[@kbck884]

I like the style of your videos -- very accessible, and sticking to facts without unjustified speculation. Could you make one on the Red Deer Cave People?

Love your vids, work and style. Really inspirational and packed with knowledge. Thanks!

[@swirvinbirds1971]

I would guess they were disposing of the dead there... You got a dead body of a loved one that you don't want animals to scavenge and you sure don't want them stinking up your living space and attracting more predators. Who knows but seems a pretty basic thing to do with the dead if you are living in 1 place.

[@paulhenry8174]

My thumbs up was for the awe thumb special effects.

[@lesliesylvan]

I don't understand why you jumped to surmise they were an offshoot of earlier and much larger brained and body H Erectus??? The longer lived separate isolated branch seems more likely. All it took was an abhorance seeing other predators munching away at loved ones flesh. 20 % larger brain-size than a chimp could be all the difference in the world. No discovered tool kit is quite odd/interesting. Love you vids! More gruel, please . . .

[@warrenny]

Thanks Leslie. I searched the comments a lot to see if anyone else had caught that. Seems more likely Naledi would be an earlier-than-Erectus species that survived to into more "modern" times.

[@felhuron]

I've recently discovered your channel. I love it! This one is perhaps my favourite.

[@francisfischer7620]

Stephan I'm so grateful for the time you give to explaining this to ordinary folks like me. Thank you.

[@JavaRatusso]

Liked and subscribed! Great presentation and narration! This is the kind of content I like to hear about. Thanks for just talking us thru it.

[@bobwilson9820]

I love the way this video ends: "So what can we say with some degree of certainty about Homo naledi? Well, they were certainly a hominin, certainly a new species that we didn't know about before. They probably descended from Homo erectus or a similar style of hominin and that's about it, really. As for what they were doing in that cave, we can only speculate at the moment. But isn't it fascinating how 200-300 thousand years ago how varied life was for our family tree on this earth? You had us, Neanderthals, Denisovans, Homo naledi, Homo erectus, luzonensis, Homo floresiensis . . . Just thinking about that and how whether we could have communicated with them, and what our interactions were like with these different species, that were in some ways so similar to us and yet so different. Thinking about that kind of stuff keeps me up all night." I've never wished insomnia on anyone. Except now for Stefan Milo. May your insomnia help you communicate this remarkable story to those of us who are put to sleep by stories of Homos sapiens, neanderthalensis, denisova, naledi, erectus, luzonensis, floresiensis . . . z z z

[@fuego2606]

Stefan: ho cho hi hu wife: what are you doing there? Stefan: Recording a Video obviously.

[@sharonkaczorowski8690]

The list of references is refreshingly surprising..,love it! Great video.

[@sumitnavarkar7170]

thank you for the great information about Homo Neledi. good job man you deserve likes and shares

[@AntonSlavik]

Is there some kind of aversion to thinking they weren't "disposed of" in the chamber, but simply laid there to rest by their own people in an early religion sense? Humans aren't the only species that put their dead into chambers or in the ground

[@twothreebravo]

Look, I came here for a man talking to a microphone taped to a spoon, not this fancy nonsense grumble grumble grumble

[@davidec.4021]

Lmao

[@JenniferinIllinois]

Yep, he's an imposter! No microphone taped to a spoon!!!!!

[@greeneggsandham2475]

I am confused about this comment

[@bwanakelvin5555]

@@greeneggsandham2475 watch his previous videos to get the comment

[@falconquest2068]

So you're a "spooner" then?

[@scoutcombs3923]

Isn’t there now evidence of soot on the roof and hearths on the floor? I’m pretty sure it just wasn’t completely examined yet. I would love a new updated video here Stefan!

[@perrynnlynch3811]

Great video. Very informative. Keep up the great work.

[@STDynamite8008]

Wow, absolutely fascinating!!! Yet another pre-history mystery lol. My first thought was a possible sacrifice made by early hominids...? Definitely going to keep an eye out for updates on Homo Naledi.

[@bbbl67]

Could it be possible that these people were living in this cave at a time when the cave was more easily accessible, and they later got locked in there during a cave-in?

[@maggiee639]

They didn’t find any evidence of them living in the cave.

[@johnharris7353]

There's no evidence that it was ever more accessible.

[@lawrencesolkoski1356]

THINK DEEPER,,,,

[@cathyshort]

Is it possible that early man recognised that their dead might be scavenged, so hid them away so as not to give predators a taste for "human" flesh? Could it be that simple?

[@jzjzjzj]

yes

[@phoule76]

They were possibly trying to escape pursuers, and got caught in a dead end.

[@bobflendorg1064]

That seems a more likely possibility. At 250-330k years ago, there would have been plenty of larger brained hominids that would have hunted homo Naledi if given the opportunity. It's not hard to imagine a group of terrified h. Naledi fleeing into the deepest recesses of the cave system to escape a hunting band of archaic homo Sapiens.

[@ianfleischhacker6154]

@@bobflendorg1064 And they presumably would have been too big to reach their quarry through through the narrow passageway.

[@kokofan50]

The total lack of artifacts just makes that sound unlikely. They should have had at least a few things they were able to grab while fleeing.

[@kokofan50]

@Lazarus Zoolander putting a dead body in a cave so it’s not attracting animals or stinking up the place seems a responsible behavior for them to have had.

[@SandraBonney]

Yeah I find it hard to believe they dragged dead bodies through these tiny spaces, it'd be hard enough to carry a dead weight in wide open spaces

[@meanderingbird286]

Thanks for another great video. I think the world is a big place despite modern transportation. If there were no environmental pressures, it's not difficult to imagine isolated populations persisting beyond expected time boundaries.

[@TheGlobalfrog12]

Duuuuude.... Good to see you on here ....!!! Congrats !!!

[@harikrish8112]

who is here after the netflix documentary ?

[@mirror9865]

I'm here because I don't really trust the credibility of them. They are more for profit and entertainment

[@krishna-e-bera]

from their good climbing arms i guess there should be bones under some ancient forests. quite a mystery

[@StefanMilo]

Yeah they've got an odd anatomy for sure. Their feet aren't very well suited to climbing but they still had very long arms.

[@krishna-e-bera]

@@StefanMilo maybe they were specialized like giraffes, long arms to pick fruit from trees. if they survive today they could rule basketball

[@greenbird777]

Krishna: It takes very specific conditions for bones to become fossilized - the forest (or jungle) floor is one of the least likely places for fossils to form. Animals tear a body to pieces & scatter those pieces over a very large area, plant life turns those bits into soil. They have tree climbing features because they climbed trees, it's just that the trees (& other creatures they lived among) are long gone.

[@krishna-e-bera]

@Kingvanko Infinite i dont think we got to 10 billion mainly that way. anyway, how do we know the homo naledi didnt look a lot like us?

[@krishna-e-bera]

@@greenbird777 good point about preservation of bones. i wonder if there is something maladaptive about long arms - we know that human beauty standards tend toward symmetry regardless of culture.

[@fernbedek6302]

If elephants can have some level of death ritual, it seems easy to believe even a small brained hominid could have one.

[@henrirousseau9541]

Cows too respect the dead. Not kidding. But neither cows nor elephants have hands and arms.

[@tyeskodny]

Very interesting watch after I watched the Netflix Documentary about the Noledi. The Noledi change everything we know about our ancestors. It’s wild.

[@aberdeenflyers7441]

Friking awesome. Your love for the science is infectious

[@lonebluestar65]

Maybe there was a different access point at on time.

[@johnzuijdveld9585]

I've had this in my watch list for too long, a pity. It's intriguing to think of so many different species living on our planet at the same time, it says a lot about the potency for life that Earth gives us. Now if this particular species was in comparison smaller and perhaps not as advanced/successful as some other human types, couldn't it be a possibility that this place was like a hiding place for Homo Naledi at times when larger more advanced species were in the territory on hunting missions etc. Not wanting or being able to compete or possibly even being a food source for the larger Hominid group, perhaps this place of refuge was were they could escape capture, but if the enemy were lingering then maybe these ppl. starved as they waited. These caves may have been the way that Homo Naledi were able to survive for so long even after evolution had produced a more advanced version of Humanity.

[@nancercize]

I was thinking the same thing. They crawled in there to escape or hide from dangerous larger threatening animals and they starved while waiting for the danger to pass.

[@chickensbackyard1296]

Hi I currently have a gaming channel but I am thinking of doing paleontology mainly Miocene sharks and fossils but also Paleozoic fuana would anyone like that

[@StefanMilo]

You should make the videos that you want to make because your enthusiasm will come through. I made videos on lots of topics before archaeology but as they weren't my passion, they more or less sucked. People love learning about ancient biology. If Miocene sharks tickle your pickle, you should do it.

[@chickensbackyard1296]

Wow hi I have thousands of fossils I am 15 I have many rare specimens to show through the Pre Cambrian Paleozoic metazoic and Cenozoic

[@dpcealla]

Wow!! What a great video!! Superb research, well presented and straight to the point! Human evolution prime time !!

[@comradecurtis]

What a find this channel is! Sterling work fella.

[@cootermcguffin1874]

It's nice to imagine interactions with each other where niceties were exchanged, but our own history shows a lot of violent tendencies.

[@cameronluke791]

Love it but the sound effects at the end is clearly you making chimp noises into the microphone lol amazing

[@allyabedi9111]

Wasambaa

[@1953Johnnyp]

I believe we have some of these creatures here in the US. Just drive through Baltimore, Chicago or Philadelphia and you'll see them everywhere throwing stuff at your auto as it passes. Must be a tribal thing?

[@vmitchinson]

tRump supporters no doubt.

[@cqndycqne.auko.unoffical]

Lol

[@elio5105]

Amazing !!! Obsessed with this species and it keeps me up at night too

[@Wireman68]

Thinking about that stuff wasn't keeping me up all night but now it is. Thanks a lot.

[@michaelhowell2326]

How far back could one go and still be biologically similar enough to successfully breed with the Humans, Neanderthals, Denisovans and the like? Asking for a friend.

[@richern2717]

At this stage it looks like 700 000 years because there are human populations with Ancestry/Genes from a group who separated 700 000 years ago from the line who became Modern Human and Neanderthal....

[@RickMason-yj7pv]

@Dan Ryan I feel cheated!

[@bezahltersystemtroll5055]

what's that you are hiding behind your back, is that a time machine? 🤔

[@michaelhowell2326]

@@bezahltersystemtroll5055 it's nothing. It's just hat cleaner. From Tibet. From the '20s. I use it for my training my parakeet for long-distance carriage pulling. See? Nothing.

[@dashofsalt4359]

There's a video floating on KZbin called 'we're the last humans left' is somber and regretful and I'm reminded about it everytime I learn about our ancient cousins We're the last humans left' and look at what we're doing

[@joseluisdiazcarrillo71]

They found the cave and went to hide from an invading rival tribe. The invaders followed the group but then decided to just sit and wait. The rest is paleontology.

[@jackkessler9876]

Yikes! That is a horrible but fully credible scenario. Compare cliff dwellers in Arizona and the Dordogne. They went into caves to escape invading Navajo and Visigoths.

[@abloodorange5233]

Possible

[@nomangreybeard535]

Jose Luis Diaz Carrillo Hahah. Love it!

[@irreview]

Homo Naledi actually buried their dead. We found those bodies in a crevice far inside the cave, more than needed to hide from an enemy or predator. And they were buried with pottery. It was a burial ground, as far as I can tell.

[@lawrencesolkoski1356]

ANOTHER DISNEY MOVIE,,,

[@teaohar2]

Wonderful videos! Very interesting. Fantastic voice and delivery.

[@BojanBojovic]

Who are those 1.1k dislikes? Creationists? Incredible how many people disliked something as good as this.

[@rip_bugsy]

yo how can u see the dislikes?

[@BojanBojovic]

@@rip_bugsy Google it. :)

[@arturovasquez5612]

Clearly put there by aliens 👽 “ancient astronaut theorists, say YES”

[@richardpierce3227]

Hmm with a smaller brain is it likely that they descended from H erectus?

[@fredneecher1746]

@Spiritualistic I think the point was the reduction in brain size. But that is not a hindrance. After all, Floresiensis seems to have "shrunk" over time due to islandisation (or whatever you call it).

[@hiddenhist]

I fee like the traditional view is a bit... smug? I dont know how to put it, but it feels to me like they’re almost working backwards and acting as if anatomically modern humans, especially sapiens, were the inevitable conclusion of hominin evolution or something, instead of just the one that happened to stick. 🤷🏿‍♂️🤷🏿‍♂️

[@hiddenhist]

That’s the only framework inwhich I can see people being surprised about these skeletons not being millions of years old. It makes me wonder: if chimps somehow died out before we started recording history and drawing cave art that could depict them, would people have been surprised that chimp skeletons only dated to a few thousand years ago? Would they have assumed that these chimp skeletons were “millions of years old” due to “archaic” features?

[@cjscorah]

Best channel on KZbin. Full stop.

[@tcook7739]

Hi Stefan, I wonder if you have seen or have any thoughts on the new netflix docco about this? I was excited to learn more but stopped halfway through as there wasn't much scientific findings shown and more speculation etc.Then the researchers started lighting fires in the cave which made me wonder if they are damaging the site for further testing, carbon dating or tracing of ancient fires etc