Welcome to Unexplained Extra the final episode of season four with me Richard McClain Smith, where for the weeks in between episodes we look at stories and ideas that, for one reason or other, didn't make it into the previous show. In the last episode, The Weight Under, we learned about a series of strange events that apparently plagued a number of residents of the Newport housing development just outside of Houston,
Texas in the nineteen eighties. The events, which ranged from alleged to supernatural activity to general feelings of oppression and malaise, were said to have been so incessant that many residents were ultimately forced to move, often at a considerable cost. When it transpired, the development had been partially built over an unofficial graveyard known as Black Hope Cemetery. Many of those affected were left wondering if that had in some way been a trigger for all that had taken place.
It is a compelling idea, and one that is routinely played out in many a successful horror story. Certainly, whatever we believe about the supposed supernatural consequences of disturbing a grave, there are few of us who wouldn't feel a little uneasy at the prospect of unwittingly digging up someone's final resting place, or indeed living above it. And yet we
might ask why all of us will die. And even for those who believe we are somehow more than a bundle of cells and flickering synapses, and that something else awaits us beyond this mortal realm, there are few who consider the preservation of the body or its final resting place to have any significant bearing on that. But then again,
death has never really been about the dead. In September twenty thirteen, cave divers Rick Hunter and Stephen Tucker set out to explore the Rising Star cave system, located thirty miles northwest of Johannesburg in the Fossil Homonid site of South Africa. The region is so named due to the propensity of ancient hominid fossils, particularly those belonging to Homo sapiens and our closest relatives that have been found there.
Having made it about sixty meters in and thirty meters down through a series of hair raisingly narrow passages, jagged rock faces, and stalagmite chambers, the men paused to take some video footage. Not wanting to get in the picture, Tucker dropped into a small crack by the back wall, only to find it was a little deeper than he'd
first assumed in tree. To find out just how deep it was, Tucker continued dropping into it through a passage as narrow as eight inches in parts, until finally, at about fifteen meters down, he hit the bottom, Turning to find the space opening up below him, Tucker soon found himself in an entirely new section of the cave that had never been mapped before, as recounted by Jamie Shrieve for the National Geographic with Hunter joining him soon after, Tucker made a quick sweep of the chamber with his
head torch and drew back in astonishment. The floor was littered with fossilized bones, many of which looked to be human. Realizing the potential of their find, the cavers took photos of their discovery that eventually made their way to eminent paleoanthropologist Professor Lee Berger of the University of Fittworter Strand in Johannesburg. However, as Berger and his team soon discovered the bones weren't human at all, nor did they belong
to any of our direct ancestors. Instead, they concluded they were in fact the bones of an earlier offshoot of the Homo genus, which had never been seen before. They later named it Homo nilledi, after the local Sotho word for star. In twenty seventeen, the fossils were found to
be roughly two hundred and fifty thousand years old. Despite all of that, however, as Page Madison noted in a twenty seventeen essay in Aon magazine, it is arguable that what was most shocking about the discovery was not the age of the fossils, or that they belonged to a previously unknown species, but rather the location in which they were discovered. Considering how deep and inaccessible the chamber is, not to mention its complete lack of natural it is
highly unlikely that homeowner Leddie lived there. Taking into account that there were no signs of predation, no sign that the bones had dropped into the chamber from above, no evidence that water had carried them into the chamber, and the fact that the bones had accumulated over time, the team were left with one startling conclusion the bodies had been deliberately placed there After death by other members of the community. Are you always taking care of your family?
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slash Unexplained Podcast. Though some have cautioned against the hypothesis, there is good evidence to suggest that the Rising Star homeowner Leddy discovery is in effect the first ever known graveyard, as Page Madison also noted in aon This is hugely significant since mortuary rituals reveal, as Aison says, a capacity to think symbolically, in other words, the capacity to understand things in the abstract, and ultimately the capacity for imagination.
Assuming that our ancestors were operating at a similar level of sophistication at the time, it could also be that this discovery marks the beginnings of our ability to tell stories, a feat of cognitive gymnastics that many believe sets us apart from other animals. With the emergence of our ability to tell stories also comes the beginnings of our search for meaning and our endeavor to comprehend ourselves and the cosmos.
In turn, we find these stories and ideas that we tell each other reflected in our mortuary rituals, and as such, paradoxically, we reveal a great deal about our philosophies and ways of life through our relationship with death and our rituals for the dead. From ancient Egyptian pyramids and tombs laden with jewels and trinkets to take to the afterlife for the select few to plague pits or the mass graves of a wartime atrocity, to the notion of consecrated ground
or a so called pauper's grave. To eco friendly bio urns or the option to be blasted into space, to the simple scattering of a loved one's ashes across a favorite beach. There is much to discern about human life. Personally, I've never been particularly drawn to the great search for meaning, and feel indifferent as to whether our existence means anything or not. For me, if it has to mean anything, it is the fact that we were here at all, that all of us, no matter for how short of
a time or whoever or whatever we were, existed. And although on a personal level I have opinions about how we should or shouldn't live, on a cosmic level, I don't believe there is such a thing as right or wrong human behavior. All of it, from those actions and thoughts we consider to be abhorrent and monstrous to that which we might call saintly or good, is human, and all of it tells the story of what it means
to be human. To be able to think in the abstract gives us the ability to go a little further than simple reflexive primal tendencies. These also serve a purpose, of course. However, it is this abstract ability that caused such consternation to the residence of the Newport subdivision in Texas, and why the remains of the dead are never just
flesh and bones to us. With Black Hope Semmetry being a resting place for descendants of black slaves, what pain the Newport residence more than anything was that they had inadvertently become entangled in a lineage of injustice for a community who, not, even in death, were afforded the dignity that so many others are granted. It is often written that the Black Hope Cemetery was a forgotten cemetry. It
was not. It was remembered by the relatives and friends of the people buried there, and by others who were local to the area before the housing development was built over it. And you too now know it was there. And though graves and headstones might be useful markers, regardless of how well they or the remains within are maintained, all of them will one day be lost to time. All we really have, then, of the truth of our existence are the stories we tell. I find the overuse
of the word storyteller a little tiresome. Individuals or brands even like to label themselves as such, because in truth, we are all storytellers, each of us carrying the story of the human race and the story of all life that we share this planet with as it hurtles through space at almost half a million miles per hour about
the Milky Way. The only question is in so far as we can influence how our story is told, If many years from now, it were one day to be found and read by someone else, what would we want it to say? You've been listening to Unexplained Season four. We will return in the spring. If you enjoy Unexplained and would like to help support us, you can now do so via Patreon to receive access to add three episodes, discount or merchandise, as well as brand new video and
audio content exclusive to pay two members. Just go to patron dot com, forward slash Unexplained Pod to sign up, or if you'd like to make a one time donation, you can go to Unexplained podcast dot com forward Slash support. All donations, no matter how large or small, are greatly appreciated. Unexplained the book and audiobook featuring ten stories that have never before been covered on the show, is now available to buy worldwide. You can purchase through Amazon, Barnes and Noble,
and Waterstones, among other bookstores. All elements of Unexplained, including the show's music, are produced by me Richard McClain smith. Please subscribe and rate the show wherever you listen to podcasts, and feel free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation of your own you'd like to share. You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com, or Twitter at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at
Facebook dot com. Forward Slash Unexplained Podcast Now, it's time to take care of yourself. To make time for you, teledoc gives you access to a licensed therapist to help you get back to feeling your best. Speak to a licensed therapist by phone or video anytime between seven am to nine pm local time, seven days a week. Teledoc Therapy is available through most insurance or employers. Download the app or visit teledoc dot com, Forward Slash Unexplained Podcast
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