Homo Floresiensis Research Paper
Christopher Rhodes
Dr. Frost
Anthropology 3010
May 7, 2013
Homo Floresiensis; Pathological modern human or evolutionary offshoot?
Upon initial discovery of the skeletons at Liang Bau cave on the island of Flores in Indonesia in 2003, these enigmatic skeletons were appropriately dubbed ,”Hobbits” by Australian and Indonesian researchers because of their small stature and curious bone structure. The location of the skeletons themselves is interesting because of the remoteness of the island from the Asian continent. This leads one to wonder how these people’s ancestors came to the island in the first place close to 800,000 years ago. It is highly debated whether or not these tiny skeletons are evidence of an offshoot of one of our evolutionary …show more content…
The skeletons that were discovered had an average height usually around one meter tall, weighing about twenty kilograms, and had a lifespan of approximately thirty years of age. Evidence from archaeological sites indicates that this pupulace utilized fire, along with stone tools and weapons. One of the most astonishing facts is that these people, who would have a stature close to a three year-old child, worked together and planned jointly in order to hunt big-game animals like the pygmy Stegodon, which could weigh up to a thousand kilograms. Although they had brains about the size of grapefruits with capacities around 400cc; compared to the average cranial capacity of modern humans, 1350cc; this joint communication and planning indicates that they had high cognitive capacity despite their small endocranial volume. There is additional evidence that shows that these people also hunted Komodo Dragons, giant rodents, and lizards, along with other small game animals, like fish, frogs, birds, snakes, and tortoises (Mayell …show more content…
And as more research was done on their bone morphology, it became even more significant because the additional research increased the probability that this was truly a new species, and not just a case of an unknown pathology or disease. The implication that this is a new species has far reaching and significant effects; it shows us that our evolutionary history was not as straightforward as we once thought, and that evolution took us through a few twists and turns to get where we are today (Ghosh 2013). This should cause archaeologists to be more open minded about our evolutionary history, and consider other undiscovered evolutionary paths we are unaware of. And maybe this being accepted as a new species will lead to the discovery of other past forms of Homo that we have overlooked as being the effects of a pathology or disease. I would definitely consider this one of the more interesting and important finds of the twenty-first
Dr. Frost
Anthropology 3010
May 7, 2013
Homo Floresiensis; Pathological modern human or evolutionary offshoot?
Upon initial discovery of the skeletons at Liang Bau cave on the island of Flores in Indonesia in 2003, these enigmatic skeletons were appropriately dubbed ,”Hobbits” by Australian and Indonesian researchers because of their small stature and curious bone structure. The location of the skeletons themselves is interesting because of the remoteness of the island from the Asian continent. This leads one to wonder how these people’s ancestors came to the island in the first place close to 800,000 years ago. It is highly debated whether or not these tiny skeletons are evidence of an offshoot of one of our evolutionary …show more content…
The skeletons that were discovered had an average height usually around one meter tall, weighing about twenty kilograms, and had a lifespan of approximately thirty years of age. Evidence from archaeological sites indicates that this pupulace utilized fire, along with stone tools and weapons. One of the most astonishing facts is that these people, who would have a stature close to a three year-old child, worked together and planned jointly in order to hunt big-game animals like the pygmy Stegodon, which could weigh up to a thousand kilograms. Although they had brains about the size of grapefruits with capacities around 400cc; compared to the average cranial capacity of modern humans, 1350cc; this joint communication and planning indicates that they had high cognitive capacity despite their small endocranial volume. There is additional evidence that shows that these people also hunted Komodo Dragons, giant rodents, and lizards, along with other small game animals, like fish, frogs, birds, snakes, and tortoises (Mayell …show more content…
And as more research was done on their bone morphology, it became even more significant because the additional research increased the probability that this was truly a new species, and not just a case of an unknown pathology or disease. The implication that this is a new species has far reaching and significant effects; it shows us that our evolutionary history was not as straightforward as we once thought, and that evolution took us through a few twists and turns to get where we are today (Ghosh 2013). This should cause archaeologists to be more open minded about our evolutionary history, and consider other undiscovered evolutionary paths we are unaware of. And maybe this being accepted as a new species will lead to the discovery of other past forms of Homo that we have overlooked as being the effects of a pathology or disease. I would definitely consider this one of the more interesting and important finds of the twenty-first