Anthropologists uncover jawbone of another ancient "Hobbit" on Indonesian island
Anthropologists uncover jawbone of another ancient "Hobbit" on Indonesian island
Joseph B. Verrengia, Associated Press/Denver
Scientists digging in a remote Indonesian cave have uncovered a
jaw bone that they say adds more evidence that a tiny prehistoric
Hobbit-like species once existed.
The jaw is from the ninth individual believed to have lived as
recently as 12,000 years ago. The bones are in a wet cave on the
island of Flores in the eastern limb of the Indonesian
archipelago, near Australia.
The research team which reported the original sensational
finding nearly a year ago strongly believes that the skeletons
belong to a separate species of early human that shared Earth
with modern humans far more recently than anyone thought.
The bones have enchanted many anthropologists who have come to
accept the interpretation of these diminutive skeletons marooned
on Flores with dwarf elephants and other miniaturized animals,
giving the discovery a kind of fairy tale quality.
But a vocal scientific minority insists the specimens are
nothing more than the bones of modern humans that suffered from
microencephaly, a broadly defined genetic disorder that results
in small brain size. The latest discovery on Flores to be
published in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature does not
change their minds, they said, with one critic describing the
latest artifacts as "pretty scrappy."
And, at least two groups of opponents have submitted their own
studies to other leading scientific journals refuting the Flores
work.
The result is a controversy unlike any other in the often-
contentious study of human origins. Those caught in the middle
say the debate is a real test for what we know about human
evolution.
Daniel E. Lieberman of the Peabody Museum at Harvard said the
specimens are so unusual that they deserve a more detailed
analysis in order to adequately answer the critics.
"Many syndromes can cause microencephaly and dwarfism and they
all need to be considered," said Lieberman, who wrote a
commentary in Nature. "The findings are not only astonishing, but
also exciting because of the questions they raise."
In the latest Nature study, the same team of Australian and
Indonesian scientists working in trenches dug in Liang Bua cave
found a variety of additional bones at various depths, suggesting
the cave had been occupied for tens of thousands of years by
several generations.
The most prominent specimen discovered in the latest batch is
the lower jaw bone from a separate individual. Dating of charcoal
nearby in the excavation layer suggests it is 15,000 years old.
They also found the right arm of the 18,000-year old female
announced last year, as well as fragments of other skeletons.
The jaw reported now has a weaker chin with smaller tooth
dimensions than last year's primary specimen, but otherwise
shares the same characteristics.
Other artifacts in the cave include cut and charred bones of
stegodon, a prehistoric pygmy elephant, and other animals, as
well as a variety of sophisticated stone tools. The researchers
said the artifacts offer further proof that the cave's tiny
inhabitants were capable of advanced thinking and behavior, like
cooperative hunting.
Critics say they have many lingering questions about the
Flores discoveries.
"This paper doesn't clinch it. I feel strongly that people are
glossing over the problems with this interpretation," said Robert
Martin, a biological anthropologist and provost of the Field
Museum of Natural History in Chicago.
In Martin's view, the more likely scenario is that the
specimens belonged to an extended family of modern humans, some
of whom suffered from microencephaly, which often runs in
families.
The critics challenge the reliability of the dating of bones
and artifacts because only a few pieces of charcoal -- presumably
from fire pits -- were analyzed. Also, water drainage may have
helped jumble the older specimens with the more recent.
And, they argue, the stone tools found are of the type known
to be made only by modern humans. The brain size of the specimens
found suggest it's unlikely such a people could have used the
tools.
GetAP 1.00 -- OCT 11, 2005 22:09:20