Somewhere along the evolutionary process, at least two
hominin species –
Homo Naledi and
Homo Floresiensis – became equivalent with
Homo Sapiens, (almost) physically and (surely) mentally.
That is, these side-lined human species developed in a
unique way, not becoming extinct, as the
Neanderthals did, or
Homo Erectus and
Homo Australopithecus,or the
Denisovans did.
It seems that
Homo Naledi became equivalently intelligent as
Homo Sapiens around the same time: 300,000 years ago.
A cave find in South Africa, in 2013, included bone fossils,
burial ritual, and, most importantly, etchings (markings) on materials and cave
walls that indicated modes of communication that didn’t appear among
Neanderthals and
Homo Sapiens until 60,000 to 40,000 BCE.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_naledi
The possibility that this distinct hominim species did not
go extinct but separated itself from the primitive struggles of its hominim
precursors is something to consider perhaps.
That
Naledi went off on an evolutionary path that eventually
paralleled
Homo Sapiens could be verified if further fossils and remains of
Naledi show up in places beyond the cave and area in Africa where their
existence resided.
The disputes about the
Naledi significance are moderate.
Here’s one example:
https://elifesciences.org/reviewed-preprints/89106/reviews
But the consensus is that the small-brained
Naledi had
intelligence equivalent to
Homo Sapiens and
Neanderthalus, at a time previous
to that later intelligence.
This, theoretically, gave the recently discovered (2013)
species a leg up in mental evolution, allowing for a spike and process in
advancement of thought, creativity, and societal development.
Is it possible that
Naledi moved away from the evolutionary
trek of its fellow
hominins and developed a whole human-like culture different
from and parallel to the societies that we humans have been born into?