BBC Science — Scientists
have discovered a new and tiny species of human that lived in Indonesia
at the same time our own ancestors were colonising the world. The
three-foot (one-metre) tall species – dubbed “the Hobbit” – lived on
Flores island until at least 12,000 years ago. The fact that little
people feature in the legends of modern Flores islanders suggests we
might have to take tales of Leprechauns and Yeti more seriously.
Details of the sensational find are described in the journal
Nature.   The discovery has been hailed as one of the most
significant of its type in decades. Australian archaeologists unearthed
the bones while digging at a site called Liang Bua, one of numerous
limestone caves on Flores. The remains of the partial skeleton were
found at a depth of 5.9m. At first, the researchers thought it was the
body of a child. But further investigation revealed otherwise. Wear on
the teeth and growth lines on the skull confirm it was an adult,
features of the pelvis identify it as female and a leg bone confirms
that it walked upright like we do. “When we got the dates back from the
skeleton and we found out how young it was, one anthropologist working
with us said it must be wrong because it had so many archaic
[primitive] traits,” said co-discoverer Mike Morwood, associate
professor of archaeology at the University of New England, Australia.
The 18,000-year-old specimen, known as Liang Bua 1 or LB1, has been
assigned to a new species called Homo floresiensis. It was about one
metre tall with long arms and a skull the size of a large grapefruit.
The researchers have since found remains belonging to six other
individuals from the same species. LB1 shared its island with a golden
retriever-sized rat, giant tortoises and huge lizards – including
Komodo dragons – and a pony-sized dwarf elephant called Stegodon which
the “hobbits” probably hunted. (10/28/04)
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