Great collection of images and information @gavvet!
Naledi might be super important going forward so long as those dates are accepted. I think some researchers are still skeptical, and suspect the H. naledi fossils may have been deposited in the rising star cave (the specific chamber) perhaps long after their death. This would make the picture a bit less complicated, since this complex burial ritual is astounding with their small brains as you said.
However, these dates come from such a strong team of researchers, the dates need to be taken seriously! I'm looking forward to reading all these new papers. Coming out, but the original set that first described naledi were simultaneously amazing and confusing.
A relevant recent finding is the discovery of anatomically modern humans 300k years ago in Morocco. This is 1) 100 years earlier than modern humans were thought to exist and 2) across the continent from Ethiopia where the previously oldest fossils were found. All of this points to human evolution occurring and larger temporal AND spatial scales than evidence previously indicated.
woops and thanks for the shout out @voronoi! check out some scrambled thoughts above