(200) Homo naledi and climate change

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Underworld Astronauts looking for the God of Darkness

Rebirth did not pay off and so they went over on reincarnation

Genetic variation

We know Homo naledi likely survived for 2 million years, that's crazy long. I don't think any longer they evolved from later combinations with Hominins and not yet extinct Australopiths. 

Well, to survive they must have had sufficient genetic variation from other tribes. They must have exchanged juvenile females all the time. So, they were likely male kin bonded without too many 'cousin marriages'. 

But this means their society must have been stabilized. They must have known to find the other tribes. Maybe they had this idyllic society for millions of years. I get the feeling it was a peaceful society, clever but physically vulnerable. I have come to like them. So different from those brutal Homo erectus:

So, for two million years the circumstances might have been extremely stable for this vulnerable species to survive. But just in the period of the finds of the Rising Star Cave the amplitude of climate fluctuation increased considerably:


Dr Rick Potts
Smitsonian Institution

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRk_gcNf7jo

It might be species emerged and died out in periods of extreme climate variability:

The state of the art of excavations gives the impression heavy climate fluctuations might go together with the evolvement and extinction of Hominid and Hominin species:





So if Homo naledi had a vulnerable demographic infrastructure concerning the delivering of juvenile females, it might have caused their extinction just like the Neanderthals. The latter likely died out in the last ice age when the forests shrunk and distances between groups became too large. They possibly died out from inbreeding.

The rise of Homo sapiens goes together with the downfall of Homo naledi:

Here we see better:

Not that we can tell this had fatal influence but climate effects might have contributed to their extinction. Also matters the orbit of the Earth around the Sun. Climate variability is also the extremeness of change. This amplitude is mainly caused by the Earth's axis of rotation AND the eccentricity of the Earth orbit around the Sun. From circular to more elliptical orbit. Please inform climate neurotics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oAeguc-lkk

Homo naledi tribes must have been extremely small, though genetically varied. The population found in Dinaledi and Lesedi chambers seems very homogeneous. They likely have become a harmonious and genetically stabilized race in two million years. A race without too many autosomal recessive disorders. 

They must have survived predators by climbing in trees with their curved fingers and ape-like shoulders. Their brain had the volume of an orange but meanwhile we know better about its functioning. 

If the rebirth hypothesis is true they must have been 'highly intelligent' creatures. No, if they were highly intelligent creatures the rebirth hypothesis with its excellent fitting scenario is likely true.

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(199) Homo naledi's unsustainable rebirth culture

Basic Dimension

http://sexualreligion.blogspot.com/ 

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Homo naledi must have had a religious development for millions of years. But this does not mean they always practiced rebirth funerals. The Dinaledi and Lesedi chambers may have been the highlights of their rebirth culture. But this culture clearly was unsustainable over time. 

So we likely witnessed the highlights of their rebirth culture which is bound to the deepest caves of the Cradle of Mankind. Then, was the find of Dinaledi chamber a coincidence? Yes, but next Lesedi cave was already predictable, since we now know from their culture and will search directly for the deepest caves in the Cradle of Mankind. 

Also we might have found by accident the turning point of Homo naledi's  religious culture just in these deepest caves. They likely have evolved further after noticing accidentally the dead did not come to life. Dinaledi and Lesedi chambers might have been long-term experiments, with negative results. Maybe after these caves they stepped over to reincarnation.


So, let's see again what comes before rebirth:

They first buried their dead simply in the ground but in the next phase they might have buried them within caves near the entrance. For the later phase of rebirth they had to stay for longer time near the caves and were not roaming any further. 

They tracked the process of decay by digging up the dead periodically. Then they perceived no signs of rebirth. Because they settled near the caves for many years they came up with the idea to develop a scenario which would make rebirth possible. It was a religious experiment in which they came to believe after they worshiped their God of Darkness in the Underworld. They invented a complete and balanced scenario which amazes us. We have written out this scenario earlier:


HOMO NALEDI CAVE SCENARIO:

- Find the deepest chambers of a cave. This must be the entrance to the Underworld of their God of Darkness.

- Don't use any light, for this extrudes the God of Darkness who cannot bear light. 

- Better lay down cables of tied ropes of long grasses from the entrance to the chambers for always finding the way back.

- There must be sufficient oxygen in the chambers for the dead must be able to breathe during the rebirth process. Fire consumes oxygen which suffocates the sleeping dead.

- There must be an open connection with the outer world to let the reborn out of the cave.

- Nothing must be given to the dead. In the first place they never saw a baby reborn with a stone ax in his hand. Also, precious gifts would attract thieves and the chambers had to be accessible and were not protected. So, rebirth and valuable gifts don't go together.

After many years of practice they accidentally learned rebirth did not work as expected. Also it was a dangerous and time-consuming project. Maybe they had expelled the God of Darkness. Maybe God lives much deeper. And so 335 ka the last Australopiths lost their faith in sleeping forever and in rebirth...

So, what lesson learned the first Hominins? They learned it was unbearable to die without leaving a spark of entity. The problem is with rebirth you can prove it does not work by simple inspection of the decay. Then there was just one probability left to escape the empty shell and that was reincarnation into the earthly universe. And that was exactly where Hominins went through the sound barrier of the animal kingdom. Also Homo naledi must have given up in the end...

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(198) Homo naledi were rebirth fanatics

Basic Dimension

http://sexualreligion.blogspot.com/ 

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In the beginning when we thought Homo naledi (2,3 Ma - 355 ka; 550cc) dated from about 2,3 million years ago we did not dare to believe they had already religion and ceremonial burials. Although, this was against better judgement because animal religion follows directly from the Sexual Theory of Religion:

Later Homo naledi might have known the concept of soul

Homo naledi was partly Australopithecus and partly Hominin. So he was a border case on the verge of reincarnation. Maybe for millions of years he did not invent the concept of soul for reincarnation. Also possible is his 'religion' preserved ancient ideas from the past. Maybe he was already known with reincarnation but simply did not believe in it. And to be fair, do you believe in the soul? The soul is an intellectual masterpiece of the Hominins but it is not necessarily true. So Homo naledi might have been very bright creatures who simply did not believe in reincarnation.

Rebirth as self-fulfilling prophecy

Rebirth is only possible under excellent circumstances as in the deep and dark caves of the Cradle of Mankind. Beyond this area 'rebirth' was much more difficult to attain since the dead would get no air to breathe in closed graves. Therefore Homo erectus (2 Ma; 900cc) invented 'reincarnation' just in the Middle of Africa. 

Maybe Homo naledi suffered from the inhibitory lead law and had no reason to believe in reincarnation. Homo naledi survived as long as he stayed in his natural habitat of lime stone caves in the Cradle of Mankind. On leaving this biotope by heavy weather fluctuations around 335 ka and by losing contact with other tribes, Homo naledi possibly died out by inbreeding by missing fresh juvenile females.

By the way, their right with 'rebirth' was proven by all babies who were reborn in the tribe for ages as exact replicas of their ancestors. So, for them 'rebirth' worked and case closed.


Reconsidering rebirth

Knowing the cemetery of Dinaledi chamber dates from just 335.000 years ago we must reconsider the development of Homo naledi. 

Do we really think anybody was interested in the remains of dead Homo naledi? Of course not. No Homo erectus (2 Ma; 900cc) would ever undertake the dangerous descent in these caves to gather bones. This means protection of the dead was not the reason for the way Homo naledi disposed of their dead in such a crazy way. Also the difficult way to the chambers was not relevant. Only important was to find the deepest place in the cave. The entrance to the Underworld of their God of Darkness.

But they were so clever not to leave anything of value in the chambers for not to attract thieves. That's why we likely will not find any precious gift there. Though it might be things of value are stolen meanwhile. 

On the other hand, if ancestors would be reborn as babies would they need anything? Did they ever see a baby born with a stone ax in his hand? So, a feature of rebirth is the lack of precious gifts. Rebirth is in babies while reincarnation is undetermined, can also be into adults.

If the deceased were given things of value, the graves had to be closed and protected. But rebirth cemeteries must never be closed! This is another reason that valuable things and rebirth don't go together. From this whole constellation of features we might infer Dinaledi chamber and Lesedi chamber definitely were rebirth cemeteries. 

We conclude once and again that rebirth cemeteries per definition need an open connection with the outside world. Homo naledi has thought this concept thoroughly.

Much later evolved Neanderthals laid emotional objects in their graves to honor the deceased. But those graves were closed and likely were meant for reincarnation. 

So the reason why Homo naledi did not give things of value was not disrespect for the dead, not lack of stone tools, but just protection against theft. This means Homo naledi likely used stone tools but did not leave them in the cave, they anxiously prevented to keep anything of value in the caves. So we conclude Homo naledi likely had a mass of stone tools but not in the caves. We have to check the caves for any carve from stone tools.


Homo naledi, inbreeding or outbreeding

The individuals in the caves were exact replicas of each other. Well, when we still thought they were 2,3 million years old it could have been incidental inbreeding. But that cannot be the case any longer for they apparently survived for millions of years. 

This means they somewhere must have got genetic variation from other tribes. From the number of individuals ultimately found in the caves we might estimate the total number of individuals of the tribe, under the condition that we find the total time interval the cemetery was used. I think the tribe was rather small.

Then, we can estimate the seize of the neighbouring tribes. If the country was densely populated they must have made long journeys to exchange juvenile females. But how is it possible such demographic constellation could exist for so long and remain stable. Did it?

If the body remains don't show autosomal recessive disorders then Homo naledi definitely was no inbred tribe, then their population must have been completely balanced for millions of years and they all looked the same but with sufficient genetic variation.

The conclusion must be Homo naledi definitely was no inbred tribe, impossible after 2 million years. Furthermore, rebirth might have been a special case in the development of Australopiths. Normally the conditions for rebirth are too bad. 


Reincarnation, rebirth and the choice to come back on Earth

Below we see reincarnation in Christian Ethiopia (1921). It is no inbreeding and no cousin marriage since the woman is not identified as a member of the family. This means, it is reincarnation with outbreeding. 




Also these families had to seduce the ancestors to come on Earth again. But they did not force and blackmail their daughters to marry their cousins on behalf of the ancestors, who allegedly wanted not to reincarnate in hybrids (the apple of Eve). That happens only in inbreeding cultures.

And Homo naledi was rebirth with outbreeding (see above). I don't think individuals had the choice not to come back in Homo naledi's culture. 

Below, apparently with reincarnation it was up to the 'grandfather' to make the choice to come back in the family. 

As mentioned before, in Islam we have an inbreeding culture combined with reincarnation. Ancestors must be seduced to return to the tribe. This means no hybrids as the apple from Eve and the Serpent of another tribe were allowed and Eve was stoned:

Below a scheme of how Muslim males derive the power to push their daughters to cousin marriages. It's not the father's will but the will of the ancestors: force majeure:

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(197) Homo naledi is the game changer of human religion

Basic Dimension

http://sexualreligion.blogspot.com/ 

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This blog is dedicated to the development of human religion from animal sexuality.

Our model ended up with the following classification in religious stages:

Analysis

The Rising Star Cave might be the first registered attempt of early Hominins to protect dead bodies from scavengers and other decay within a religious setting. It were dead bodies sleeping forever or waiting for renewal by rebirth. Dead bodies from Homo naledi, who came from the animal world and was on the verge of humanity. Did we accidentally hit the transition of animal religion to human religion? I think we did.

Are we on the verge of a major breakthrough in our thinking about religion. Yes, we are.

And do we grasp the importance of 'entombing' the dead in caves by these half-Australopiths? Not quite. Mankind has no idea that the importance of the finds of Homo naledi stretches much further than the dispute about the place of this subspecies in the human family tree. If Homo naledi really had 'religion' then human religion must be derived from animal religion too, which has serious consequences for the concept of 'God', which then comes down to the Alpha male of primate groups:

As mentioned before, we developed a simple theory which orders religious stages on the basis of intellectual complexity. This model starts far back in the animal world (see addendum). Therefore, we can pin Homo naledi at some religious level. That might be reincarnation or rebirth since he is a border case. But there is more. From the way how Homo naledi treated his dead we may infer he must have believed in rebirth. BTW, rebirth is more rational than reincarnation for it does not to require a soul. But of course, both are based on magical thinking.

With reincarnation it does not matter where the dead are disposed. They can even be eaten by scavengers since the soul already left the body. Animals never developed the concept of 'soul', though some believe in the afterlife. If there is no concept of soul then the only possibility for revival is the own body: rebirth. A much simpler concept.

The more proof we find that Homo naledi tried to protect the dead from scavengers and decay, the more this indicates rebirth and no reincarnation. So we must conclude, Homo naledi did not yet go through the sound barrier of human religion:

And now we understand better the big difference between simply burying the dead in the ground and the disposal of dead bodies in extremely difficult accessible places as the Rising Star Cave. The first treatment just shows respect to the deceased, but the second is overdone and absurd and must be qualified as 'religion' and as 'rebirth'. 

And now we are on the way to fitting a model. Now we can reconstruct the motivation of Homo naledi (3,2 Ma - 335 ka; 550 cc) to this behavior. 

This abnormal way of disposal of the dead raises the following questions:

- Why the dead were placed as far as possible under the ground? Dinaledi chamber and Lesedi chamber were at the lowest points of the cave. This means Homo naledi checked all connections of the cave in the first place. They likely developed maps of caves which they engraved somewhere on flat rocks outside the cave.

- Why this place had an open air canal with the outside world? Unlike normal graves it had to be possible to breathe if the dead were sleeping for ever or were busy with rebirth. That's also why it was no option to bury them in the ground. They perceived earlier the dead were never reborn when simply buried. And with rebirth they never checked decay because that would place distrust in God. So, they developed a theory the deceased had to get oxygen all the time in the cemetery. Also it must be completely dark for the God of Darkness and He lived as deep as possible under the ground in the Underworld. So they had no other choice than to find the deepest caves with air ventilation. There must be numerous cave-cemeteries in the Cradle of Mankind. We must try to find the deepest places.

- Why the chamber was not closed from the outside world? In Egypt the soul of the pharaohs had to escape through a narrow canal, but further their tombs were barricaded. But with rebirth the graves definitely must not be closed, since reborn ancestors must be able to leave the cave again.

- So, they could not barricade the chambers, but they were very clever and searched only for those chambers which were nearly undetectable. They must have been highly intelligent and really brilliant creatures. They searched for the DEEPEST, the DARKEST and MOST UNDETECTABLE chambers but with an OPEN CONNECTION with the Upper world. So far everything points perfectly to rebirth.

- The dead needed oxygen. That's very likely a reason once more not to use fire in the caves for not to waste oxygen. Then the dead could always breathe. Homo naledi developed a complete concept for rebirth and was a very good and systematic thinker. He also knew that fire wastes oxygen.

- Why were the chambers without any incident light? Well, that happens if you go deep.

- But is the depth of the chambers intentionally related to the lack of light? Definitely yes, dept and the absence of light was part of their religious concept. They could have found chambers with some incoming light, but they did not want to, since the God of Darkness was allergic for light. Therefore they developed quite a different concept to find their way in the dark consisting of tied ropes from grasses which decayed in 335 ka. BTW, if you were that intelligent, wouldn't you make a map on flat rocks elsewhere?

- Why do complete darkness and depth have a combined meaning? In their religion the God of Darkness existed only in their imagination and in complete darkness, since with fire He apparently fled. Was he afraid of fire or light or both? I think he was afraid of light, since He was the God of the Underworld and there is no light.

- Did Homo naledi intentionally search for this kind of cemeteries? Definitely yes, after finding Lesedi as second chamber for the same purpose. This means over thousands of years there must have been built a hidden goldmine of Homo naledi bones in the Cradle of Mankind.

- So, the 'evidence' is overwhelming for REBIRTH as the overarching concept explaining the whole undertaking.

Homo naledi is the game changer of human religion

We are very happy with the balanced and logical burial model of Homo naledi. We likely have proven that animal religion exists. Then we likely also confirmed human religion must have been developed in a straight line from animal religion. Then it can be doubted if religion comes from God. God might be nothing more than a physiological trace in the human brain. Then God would have originated from primate groups with Alpha males. 

So, the implications of the way Homo naledi disposed of the dead are enormous for human religion and can transcend the importance of the discussion around Homo naledi's place in the human family tree. Homo naledi will become the game changer of human religion.

Some miscellaneous background information:

What tells us Homo naledi?

It would be unheard of if 'religion' originated in the animal world. And Homo naledi was just on the verge of humanity. So if Homo naledi practiced religion, we likely confirmed animal religion.

If religion comes from the animal world then we must wonder what concept animals have about death. Above all, we must try to think in their logic. The first question is: Does the brain of higher mammals consider death as a fait accompli or as a twilight zone between life and death? Well, death looks an irreversible fact but at the same time there could be a twilight zone. For animals death is not absolute if the body is still intact, as we also cannot believe our beloved really died. We would not be too surprised if he stood up again and walked away. And mothers (apes) drag their dead child with them for days. Below something quite different and a reminder we do not differ fundamentally from the other apes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaIH5tLmC8U

Conditions for rebirth

At the sight of a deceased loved one, also animals come to the terrible conclusion that the poor mate is dead. But the question is how do they think about death? Does the deceased animal remain in his body? Of course he does, for he is his body. That's rational thinking. So, do not touch a dead animal near grieving other animals.

We conclude, a dead animal definitely stays in his dead body but for other animals it is not completely clear what 'dead' means. The deceased lives forth in their minds and maybe he lives also forth in his dead body. For example, he could sleep forever. And maybe at some point he still gets up and walks away. Anyway, he must be protected against wild animals because he is only really dead if he is torn to pieces. That's animal logic.

Because animals never invented the soul they do not understand how dead animals could ever leave their bodies. But there is also no need for. Either they sleep and rest forever, or eventually they are born again with a renewed body and stand up as Jesus. For animals anything is possible. Only humans who are able to split body and soul can imagine reincarnation into other bodies.

These are the rules for rebirth and reincarnation:

Rebirth (Australopithecus):

1: For rebirth a dead body must be intact.

2: After rebirth there are no dead bodies left, so dead bodies must stay out of sight as the body of Jesus and the bodies in Dinaledi chamber.

Reincarnation (Homo erectus)

1: Damaged dead bodies are allowed.

2: The bones of the deceased may stay visible while they reincarnate elsewhere.

3: But for reincarnation the auxiliary hypothesis is needed of separation of body and soul.

4: Because the invisible Dinaledi chamber is a special case, later Homo erectus were forced to invent the separation of body and soul for reincarnation.

Rebirth in Dinaledi chamber

So we infer that deceased individuals - which are not torn to pieces - are able to renew their bodies in the hidden underworld of well-connected cave systems and then grow up again as young plants out of the soil. They eventually become new offspring with their own bodies. Reincarnation is not needed and burials in the Rising Star Cave are explained.

- Homo naledi knew a lot from caves and possibly got the idea a complete underworld existed in the underground connected by all caves he knew. He also knew all life finally started from the soil. So, he knew it was the underworld which was life giving. 

Homo naledi possibly assumed the giant Rising Star Cave somehow was the holy entrance to new life far beneath the surface of the earth. And the harrowing shark-mouth chute, the 12 meter deep funnel to Dinaledi chamber was the actual access to that world. This was the big mouth to the underworld and so they threw their deceased right into their next life. It was the first form of rebirth without splitting body and soul.

Now remember, the chute is 12 meter deep and Homo naledi likely didn't check the decomposition of the bodies. Very likely, they never went down the chute themselves because they thought the chute was the secret entrance of the dead into the underworld, there where all life begins and will be reborn.

The Rising Star Cave might show us the circle of life of animals, the circle of life of Australopithecus.

Homo naledi and reincarnation

If Homo naledi was able to work his deceased companions so deep under the ground, then for a very long time he must already have had the habit to bury them. 

Already for a long time early Homininae (7 mya; 400 cc) were roaming through the savannas of Africa. In the beginning, dead tribal members had to be left behind in a hot climate with scavengers. They could not be reborn. That's why early Homininae and later Australopiths learned to bury their dead, millions of years earlier than expected, and fairly quickly after leaving the forests for the plains. And why did they bury their dead? For rebirth, animal logic.

From the Rising Star Cave we learn Homo naledi was not roaming all the time. And living at one place for a longer time apparently gave a much better method to prevent premature decay of the dead. They were very experienced with caves and knew in Dinaledi chamber were neither scavengers nor insects. So, this could be seen as the first known attempt to preserve bodies awaiting reconstruction for rebirth.

Hence, we infer Australopiths might have buried their dead already for millions of years. That's why we do not find many remains. That is in line with our conclusion that deceased animals which are complete and in good order are sleeping forever and must be given a safe place to rest for rebirth.

Next question is what advantage has a cave above normal burying. It is not that buried bodies are eaten by wild animals because they were underground. No, it must have been because Homo naledi wanted to prevent decay of bodies by worms and insects in the soil. Because it takes time to arrive into the underworld and decay would destruct the body, which just had to be renewed for rebirth. And remember, Homo naledi did not check decay of dead bodies in Dinaledi chamber.

The Rising Star Cave might be unique in animal religion, since it likely marks the transition to human religion. It is exactly here where animal religion goes through the sound barrier of human religion: from rebirth to reincarnation.

Homo naledi proves animal religion 

- A lot of people still think 'religion' comes from God. but in our opinion 'God' is a physiological trace in the human brain as result of millions of years living in primate groups led by Alpha males.

- The second cave named Lesedi proves that Dinaledi chamber is no anomali, since in Lesedi are also remains found. Now we definitely take it for granted Homo naledi disposed of their dead in cemeteries.

- But this means these creatures had 'religion'. And they likely worshiped gods.

- It is culturally advanced if animals bury their dead as I think Australopiths did. This implies no religion but can be seen as respect for the deceased. 

- But the crazy undertaking of disposal of the dead in Dinaledi chamber is much more then giving respect, it must be religion.

- We know Homo naledi is the turning point between Australopithecus and Hominins. The former practiced 'rebirth' and the latter 'reincarnation'.

- But this would prove religion in Australopiths, this would prove animal religion.

- This would confirm the Sexual Theory of Religion.

ADDENDUM:

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