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Researchers announced that more fossilized remains from Homo floresiensis have been found, this time not at the Liang Bua caves on the western side of the island of Flores, where all the material has previously been unearthed, but at a site called Mata Menge which is an ancient river bed roughly 74 km (46 miles) away, in central Flores.
The fossils included six teeth, four adult and two baby "milk" teeth, a mandible (jaw bone) fragment identified as coming from an adult because it shows signs of a wisdom tooth erupting from it, with all originating from at least three individuals.
Also found at the site were 149 stone tools that the researchers say are associated with the fossils but are more cautious about since stone tools dating back to 800,000 years old have been found there.
The fossils are far older than those from Liang Bua which date between 50,000 to 190,000 years old. The fossils from the Mata Menge site are approximately 700,000 years old. Further, The size of the mandible indicates that the individual was even a bit smaller than those from the later cave remains. It is nearly a quarter smaller than the mandible found at Liang Bua.
The leader of the research team, Gert van den Bergh, of Australia's University of Wollongong's Centre for Archaeological Science, noted that they were surprised at the small size of the adult jawbone saying "We were expecting to find something larger than what we found, something closer to the size of the original founder population, Homo erectus, but it turns out that they were as small if not smaller than Homo floresiensis."
Still, this could simply be a case of different sized individuals or sexual dimorphism, rather than being evidence that Homo floresiensis was even smaller earlier on. Hopefully more fossils will be discovered in the near future that will provide additional information.
The fossils also add to the evidence that these remains aren't the result of disease but represent a dwarf species of human ancestor. The fact that they were around 700,000 years ago eliminates any possibility that they were stunted by illness.
The discovery has been published in two papers in the science journal Nature
Further Reading:
Homo floresiensis-like fossils from the early Middle Pleistocene of Flores Abstract
Age and context of the oldest known hominin fossils from Flores Abstract
The “Hobbit” Lineage May Be Much Older Than Previously Thought
Hobbit find shows tiny humans shrank 'rapidly'
New Fossils Strengthen Case for ‘Hobbit’ Species
Fossils of 'Hobbit' ancestors found on Indonesian island
The fossils included six teeth, four adult and two baby "milk" teeth, a mandible (jaw bone) fragment identified as coming from an adult because it shows signs of a wisdom tooth erupting from it, with all originating from at least three individuals.
Also found at the site were 149 stone tools that the researchers say are associated with the fossils but are more cautious about since stone tools dating back to 800,000 years old have been found there.
The fossils are far older than those from Liang Bua which date between 50,000 to 190,000 years old. The fossils from the Mata Menge site are approximately 700,000 years old. Further, The size of the mandible indicates that the individual was even a bit smaller than those from the later cave remains. It is nearly a quarter smaller than the mandible found at Liang Bua.
The leader of the research team, Gert van den Bergh, of Australia's University of Wollongong's Centre for Archaeological Science, noted that they were surprised at the small size of the adult jawbone saying "We were expecting to find something larger than what we found, something closer to the size of the original founder population, Homo erectus, but it turns out that they were as small if not smaller than Homo floresiensis."
Still, this could simply be a case of different sized individuals or sexual dimorphism, rather than being evidence that Homo floresiensis was even smaller earlier on. Hopefully more fossils will be discovered in the near future that will provide additional information.
The fossils also add to the evidence that these remains aren't the result of disease but represent a dwarf species of human ancestor. The fact that they were around 700,000 years ago eliminates any possibility that they were stunted by illness.
The discovery has been published in two papers in the science journal Nature
Further Reading:
Homo floresiensis-like fossils from the early Middle Pleistocene of Flores Abstract
Age and context of the oldest known hominin fossils from Flores Abstract
The “Hobbit” Lineage May Be Much Older Than Previously Thought
Hobbit find shows tiny humans shrank 'rapidly'
New Fossils Strengthen Case for ‘Hobbit’ Species
Fossils of 'Hobbit' ancestors found on Indonesian island
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