New discoveries at the Indonesian cave site of Liang Bua are changing the way we look at the mysterious Homo floresiensis—known as “hobbits” because of their short stature.
We originally believed these hobbits disappeared around 12,000 years ago, but it appears they may have actually died out long before this, around 40,000 years earlier. Research published in Nature today shows they used the cave between 190,000 and 50,000 years ago.
The finding, by ourselves and a team of international researchers, puts the disappearance of Homo floresiensis at around the same time that modern humans (Homo sapiens) first spread through the region and reached Australia.
But whether these two species of hominin (primates more closely related to modern humans than to living apes) ever interacted, and our ancestors can be blamed for the hobbits’ demise, remain open questions until direct evidence is found placing modern humans at the scene.
At present, the earliest evidence for modern humans on Flores is just 11,000 years old.
The Discovery
The original discovery of Homo floresiensis was made back in September 2003, in the fading light of an archaeological excavation on the Indonesian island.
The skeletal remains of this primitive, small-brained and diminutive hominin were found buried six meters below the ground surface at Liang Bua, an impressive limestone cave in the island’s western highlands.
