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New Discovery Sheds Light on Ancient ‘Hobbits’

Our mysterious cousin species stood at just three feet and may have traveled treacherous waters.

Before there was the human, there was the hobbit. Now, after discovering stone tools that are 1.48 million years old, archaeologists are gaining a clearer picture of how our diminutive and elusive primate cousins, Homo floresiensis, used to live. Homo sapiens are just one species in the diverse Hominini family, which also includes the diminutive three-feet-tall Homo floresiensis, affectionately nicknamed after the beloved fictional race invented by fantasy writer J.R.R. Tolkien. Their remains were discovered just 22 years ago, and since then, Homo floresiensis has mystified academics. We know little more than the fact that they lived on Flores Island in Indonesia from approximately 700,000 years ago until around 50,000 years ago. The recently discovered stone tools, found on nearby Sulawesi Island, suggest that the “hobbits” may have used sea travel to migrate northward from Sulawesi to Flores, said Adam Brumm, professor of archaeology at Griffith University’s Australian Research Center for Human Evolution. However, the discovery is far from conclusive. The tools were found without Hominini fossils, so they could have been made by a completely different species. Knowledge about the capabilities and movement of other Hominini species helps researchers better understand human evolution.