Unknown: Cave of Bones

In the Rising Star cave system in South Africa, a chamber beyond narrow passages held a great many bones. They belong to a small-brained species called Homo naledi and are more than two hundred and fifty thousand years old. From that find, Lee Berger and his team present their claims: naledi may have deliberately buried their dead and cut marks into the cave walls. If true, the assumption that symbolic behaviour requires a large brain collapses. Mark Mannucci's documentary records the work in the cave and the team's passage through the narrow openings. The narrative places Berger's thesis at the centre and proceeds largely through his view. The claims the film presents were not accepted by the scientific community. The reviewers who examined the findings, and a large number of archaeologists, stated that the available data does not support the conclusion of deliberate burial and engraving. The argument continues. Who it's for: Viewers of anthropology documentary, debates about human evolution, and cave research. Who it's not for: The film presents contested claims as settled and gives no room to the counter-argument. It cannot be used as a scientific source.