Archeologists divided over 'Homo floresiensis'

Dewi Santoso and M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Archeologists are at odds over the discovery of the skeleton of a dwarf-sized human species on the remote island of Flores, which is said could rewrite the history of human evolution.

Archeologist Hardini Sumono of the University of Indonesia said on Friday the discovery proved that between prehistoric humans migrated from one part of the world to the other.

"It (the discovery) shows that prehistoric creatures did migrate from one part of the world to the other, as their skeletons are scattered in all parts of the world," said Hardini, who is also a member of the Indonesian Archeologists Association.

She said further research on the skeleton would reveal the origin of the species and its race, which would later confirm whether or not it was connected with other species on the other side of the world.

"To the archeological world, the skeleton means more than just a discovery, as it will enrich our knowledge of the country's prehistoric life and help us learn more about prehistoric creatures," she said.

Archeologist Edi Sedyawati said the discovery could provide new evidence to the theory that humans did not simply follow the evolutionary path suggested by Darwinian scientists.

"There were species that lived in isolation of the outside world and they had to conform with localized conditions, and it thus impacted on their physical appearance," Edi, a former director general of culture, told The Jakarta Post.

She suggested, however, that more research was needed to confirm her hypothesis. "The final results of the research could produce an opposite conclusion," she said.

Edi also said the skeleton's discovery would place Flores under the world archeological spotlight, and the island would be swamped by enthusiastic anthropologists.

"But we do not need to worry that the archeological gold rush will strip the country of its valuable assets as there are standing regulations that will protect any discoveries," she said.

Last September, scientist Peter Brown, of the University of New England, in Armidale, Australia, and his colleagues from the Indonesian Center for Archeology in Jakarta found the skull and incomplete skeleton of a creature known as LB1 in a limestone cave at Liang Bua on Flores.

The creature is said to bear more of a resemblance to fictional, barefooted hobbits than modern humans.

The partial skeleton of Homo floresiensis -- believed to be 18,000 years old -- is of a meter-tall adult female who had a chimpanzee-sized brain and was substantially different from modern humans (Homo sapiens).

The age of the skeleton points to the fact that its owner was alive when Homo sapiens had not only come into existence, but had already reached Australia.