Book Review: Cave of Bones
William R. Elliott
A True Story of Discovery, Adventure, and Human Origins
by Lee Berger and John Hawks, 2023, National Geographic Explorer books
$11.39-14.99 at eBay and Half Price Books
$23.55 hardcover at Amazon Prime
This is a gripping account of an extended, scientific cave expedition in South Africa, in which researchers and cavers crawled and climbed through the Rising Star Cave System to study a newly found, ancient hominin, Homo naledi.
Homo naledi reconstruction. The nose shape is speculative.
Although I knew about the discovery of Homo naledi, I did not know about
this wonderful book until I happened across a stack of them in Half Price Books
at the Woodland Center, US 183 at Anderson Mill Road in north Austin. What a
deal at $14.99! And it’s at other Half Price stores and other booksellers.
Dr. Lee Berger is a paleoanthropologist and caver at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, where co-author John Hawks also works. Berger was already known for the discovery with his son of the extinct Australopithecus sediba hominin at Malapa, and his leadership of the later Rising Star Expedition and the excavation of Homo naledi.
A hominin is a close relative to us modern humans. Hominin refers to us, our extinct ancestors, and all species that are more closely related to us than to chimpanzees. This includes species in the genera Homo, Australopithecus, Paranthropus, and Ardipithecus. Hominins are characterized by behaviors such as bipedal locomotion (walking upright on two feet).
Homo naledi is an extinct species of archaic hominin discovered in 2013 in the Rising Star Cave system, Gauteng province, South Africa, part of the Cradle of Humankind, dating back to the Middle Pleistocene, 335,000–236,000 years ago. The initial discovery comprised 1,550 specimens of bone, representing 737 different skeletal elements, and at least 15 different individuals. Despite this high number of specimens, their classification with other Homo species was unclear. They could have been contemporary with early Homo sapiens, but there is no direct evidence of that.
Naledi had a small cranial capacity of 465–610 cm3 compared with 1,270–1,330 cm3 in modern humans. They averaged 143.6 cm (4 ft. 9 in.) in height and 39.7 kg (88 lb.) in weight. They were the perfect size to explore this tight, three-dimensional maze cave.
Lee Berger hired a team of small, wiry cavers to explore and excavate naledi burials in the cave. For years Lee directed most of the work from a computerized control center in the cave entrance. The cave was wired with WIFI and communications and video cables. In 2022 Berger lost 50 pounds in order to descend through the infamous Chute crevice to the Denaledi Chamber, where the most fossils were located. Gradually they excavated apparent burials dating back to the Middle Pleistocene. They found other burials and evidence of fire use and scratched petroglyphs in several areas of the maze cave. No hard evidence of Homo sapiens.
I felt claustrophobia creeping in as I read Berger’s personal account of descending
and ascending the Chute, the 15-m-deep crevice leading to the Dinaledi
Chamber. The chamber is located about 100-150 m (330-492 ft.) underground (see the
Map of Rising Star
Cave). The tightest spot is only 19 cm (7.5 in.) wide! Luckily Berger had
help from his friends.
Their discoveries became controversial as some scientists thought that this species was too primitive to carry fire and have mortuary practices. However, read the book to find out what extraordinary evidence the researchers found!
William R (Bill) Elliott, August 23, 2025
for CaveTexWilliam R. Elliott
William R. (Bill) Elliott
30105 Briarcrest Court
Georgetown, Texas 78628
Thank you, Bill, for sharing this story!I hope all is well.Best,Laura
From: William R. Elliott <speod...@gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, August 23, 2025 7:32 AM
To: cav...@googlegroups.com <cav...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Book Review: Cave of Bones