biostudies-literatureUnknown12Fuentes APrinceton UniversityNational Geographic SocietyLyda Hill FoundationUniversity of WisconsinNational Research Foundation of South AfricaJohn Templeton FoundationFulbright AssociationExplorations in the Dinaledi Subsystem of the Rising Star cave system have yielded some of the earliest evidence of a mortuary practice in hominins. Because the evidence is attributable to the small-brained <i>Homo naledi</i>, these analyses call into question several assumptions about behavioral and cognitive evolution in Pleistocene hominins. The evidence from the Dinaledi Subsystem, and at other locations across the Rising Star cave system may widen the phylogenetic breadth of mortuary, and possibly funerary, behaviors. These discoveries may also associate the creation of meaning-making and increased behavioral complexity with a small-brained hominin species, challenging certain assertions about the role of encephalization and cognition in hominin and human evolution. We suggest that theLifeRP89125https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC12410969biostudies-literatureMeaning-making behavior in a small-brained hominin, &lt;i&gt;Homo naledi&lt;/i&gt;, from the late Pleistocene: contexts and evolutionary implications.PMC12410969Molopyane KKissel MHawks JFuentes ABerger LRSpikins PfalseMeaning-making behavior in a small-brained hominin, &lt;i&gt;Homo naledi&lt;/i&gt;, from the late Pleistocene: contexts and evolutionary implications.Explorations in the Dinaledi Subsystem of the Rising Star cave system have yielded some of the earliest evidence of a mortuary practice in hominins. Because the evidence is attributable to the small-brained <i>Homo naledi</i>, these analyses call into question several assumptions about behavioral and cognitive evolution in Pleistocene hominins. The evidence from the Dinaledi Subsystem, and at other locations across the Rising Star cave system may widen the phylogenetic breadth of mortuary, and possibly funerary, behaviors. These discoveries may also associate the creation of meaning-making and increased behavioral complexity with a small-brained hominin species, challenging certain assertions about the role of encephalization and cognition in hominin and human evolution. We suggest that th2025-01-01T00:00:00Z2025 Sep2026-07-05T03:18:55.774Z2026-07-05T03:12:25.978ZS-EPMC124109694090596010.7554/eLife.89125