An Early Pleistocene biochronological date for Homo naledi, South Africa

Homo naledi is a Plio-Pleistocene hominin from the site of Rising Star, South Africa. It has been claimed by Lee Berger et al that specimens of this species are somewhere between 236,000 and 335,000 years old. Thackeray (2025) has proposed an Early Naledi Hypothesis (ENH) to suggest that H. naledi from Rising Star is considerably older than 300,000 years. The hypothesis is tested here by using a new morphometric biochronological method based on measurements of lower first molars. 8 specimens attributed to H. naledi yield an Early Pleistocene date (2.18 ± 0.36 million years).