Tiny humans were cooks
Kate Ravilious, Wednesday October 12, 2005, The Guardian
The tiny, hobbit-like species of human discovered on the remote Indonesian island of Flores last October were proficient butchers and cooks, according to latest discoveries from the island.
Mike Morwood, from the University of New England in Australia, and his colleagues have uncovered further bones from Homo floresiensis which confirm that the diminutive humans were a naturally tiny species and were alive as recently as 12,000 years ago.
Digging in the same area as previously, Professor Morwood and his team have uncovered a number of new Homo floresiensis bones, including another jawbone and the right arm belonging to the skull of the first creature to be found. In total they believe they have bones belonging to at least nine different individuals, allowing them to reconstruct the body proportions of Homo floresiensis with much greater certainty.
Other scientists had suggested that Homo floresiensis' small skull indicated that they may have suffered from a condition known as microcephaly, characterised by an abnormally small brain. However, the new findings quash this idea, with the leg and arm bones showing the creatures naturally stood at around a metre tall.
The original "hobbit" skull was dated to around 18,000 years old, but the new bones reveal that Homo floresiensis survived until even more recently, with some bones dated to 12,000 years ago.
Prof Morwood and his colleagues also discovered bones belonging to an elephant-like species called Stegodon, as well as bones from a Komodo dragon, rats and bats. Cut marks on these bones suggest all these creatures were on the Homo floresiensis menu. Some of the animal bones also show signs of having been cooked.
"Use of fire is indicated by charred bone and clusters of reddened and fire-cracked rocks," writes Prof Morwood in the journal Nature this week.
The tiny, hobbit-like species of human discovered on the remote Indonesian island of Flores last October were proficient butchers and cooks, according to latest discoveries from the island.
Mike Morwood, from the University of New England in Australia, and his colleagues have uncovered further bones from Homo floresiensis which confirm that the diminutive humans were a naturally tiny species and were alive as recently as 12,000 years ago.
Digging in the same area as previously, Professor Morwood and his team have uncovered a number of new Homo floresiensis bones, including another jawbone and the right arm belonging to the skull of the first creature to be found. In total they believe they have bones belonging to at least nine different individuals, allowing them to reconstruct the body proportions of Homo floresiensis with much greater certainty.
Other scientists had suggested that Homo floresiensis' small skull indicated that they may have suffered from a condition known as microcephaly, characterised by an abnormally small brain. However, the new findings quash this idea, with the leg and arm bones showing the creatures naturally stood at around a metre tall.
The original "hobbit" skull was dated to around 18,000 years old, but the new bones reveal that Homo floresiensis survived until even more recently, with some bones dated to 12,000 years ago.
Prof Morwood and his colleagues also discovered bones belonging to an elephant-like species called Stegodon, as well as bones from a Komodo dragon, rats and bats. Cut marks on these bones suggest all these creatures were on the Homo floresiensis menu. Some of the animal bones also show signs of having been cooked.
"Use of fire is indicated by charred bone and clusters of reddened and fire-cracked rocks," writes Prof Morwood in the journal Nature this week.