AsianScientist (Jul. 8, 2016) – The plot thickens in the mystery of the demise of Homo floresiensis, according to new research from Australia. These diminutive cousins of modern humans, or Homo sapiens, were only about a meter tall and thus were dubbed hobbits.
Findings from the study, led by the University of Wollongong Australia and Indonesia’s National Research Center for Archaeology and published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, have revealed that H. sapiens were likely using fire at Liang Bua 41,000 years ago, narrowing the time gap between the last hobbits and the first modern humans at this site on the Indonesian island of Flores. The research is among the earliest evidence of modern humans in Southeast Asia.
After revised dating estimates of the original hobbit skeleton placed the bones between 190,000 and 60,000 years old, and the most recent stone tools at 50,000 years old, a gap in the chronology of the sediment sequence opened up.
Geoarchaeologist Dr. Mike Morley, who was lead author of the study, and colleagues were able to fill that gap, revealing something rather unexpected: physical evidence of fireplaces that were used between 41,000 and 24,000 years ago, most likely by modern humans for warmth and/or cooking.
“We now know that the hobbits only survived until around 50,000 years ago at Liang Bua. We also know that modern humans arrived in Southeast Asia and Australia at least 50,000 years ago, and most likely quite a bit earlier,” Morley said.
Given that no evidence for the use of fire by Homo floresiensis at the site has been found, Morley said modern humans are the most likely candidates for the construction of the fireplaces.
Morley said researchers at Liang Bua are now searching for evidence that could possibly reveal an overlap between the two species, which could have led to interaction between the two species, and ultimately, the hobbit’s extinction.
The article can be found at: Morley et al. (2016) Initial Micromorphological Results from Liang Bua, Flores (Indonesia): Site Formation Processes and Hominin Activities at the Type Locality of Homo Floresiensis.
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Source: University of Wollongong Australia.
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