Archaeology Seminar 30 January

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Archaeology seminar 30 January The forensic taphonomy of the Rising Star cave system: Homo naledi and the evolution of hominin mortuary practices Dr. Patrick Randolph-Quinney The Dinaledi and Lesedi Chambers of the Rising Star cave system have yielded more than 1500 fossil specimens which have been attributed to the de novo taxon Homo naledi. Multi-disciplinary lines of evidence (from structural geology, sedimentology, palaeo- and forensic taphonomy) exclude conventional depositional models seen in other caves in the Cradle of Humankind, including carnivore predation, scavenging, death trap, water transport, mudflow, and mass fatality. We have proposed that the remains of Homo naledi may have been deliberately introduced into the chamber by conspecifics through the practice of funerary caching. This presentation discusses the evolution of primary forms of mortuary practice, drawing on comparative anthropology and primatology to investigate the relationships between non-human primate reactions to death, and the origins of complex ritualised mortuary behaviours. It will also discuss the role of evidential quality, scientific rigour and the application of forensic taphonomic methodologies to understand mortuary behaviours in Middle Pleistocene hominins. Patrick Randolph‐Quinney is Reader in Biological and Forensic Anthropology at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), where he is Academic Lead for Forensic Science and Director of Taphonomic Research Facilities. His broad interests concern the application of multi‐disciplinary forensic taphonomy into both current medico‐legal practice and the Evolutionary Anthropology of the deep past. He has extensive casework experience in both forensic anthropology and archaeology in the UK and sub‐Saharan Africa. He has research interests in osseous taphonomy, particularly differentiation of sub‐aerial and sub‐surface processes, trauma analysis, ichnotraces, and the application of digital methods in the analysis of spatial taphonomy and the decomposition process. Over the last few years he has applied explicit forensic taphonomic analyses to fossil assemblages of Homo naledi from Rising Star Cave in South Africa to investigate the evolution of hominin mortuary practices. He conducts fieldwork in Middle Pleistocene palaeo-archaeological deposits in South Africa and is Co-Director of the Makapansgat Archaeological Landscape Project. Thursday 30th of January 3.30pm Laver Building LT3 OPEN TO ALL STAFF AND STUDENTS .

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