A new discovery may mean big things for our ancient “hobbit” relatives. The original human “hobbits” were discovered back in 2003, more than ten years ago now. They are believed to have stood about three feet tall and dwelt on an Indonesian island. These Homo Floresiensis became extinct about 50,000 years ago. Their remains were found in a cave on the island called Liang Bua.
Now, on the island of Flores, forty-three miles from the spot where the first Homo Floresiensis were unearthed, smaller bones have been found. The remains are believed by scientists to belong to at least three different individuals and have been dated back 700,000 years. The Lilliputian humans’ remains were excavated from an ancient river bed at Mata Menge, according to Nature journal.
The new finds include six teeth, two of which are milk teeth that belonged to an infant, and a fragment of the jawbone. This jawbone is believed to have come from an adult but is about twenty-percent smaller than those of its more recent hobbit counterpart.
Researchers believe that this discovery lends weight to the theory that hobbits — named after the short beings in JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings saga — evolved from an early ancestor of modern humans, called Homo Erectus. The hobbits then had become stranded on an island and shrunk in size.One of the researchers is Dr. Yousuke Kaifu, who hails from the National Museum of Nature and Science, located in Tokyo, Japan. According to Dr. Kaifu, “All the fossils are indisputably hominin and they appear to be remarkably similar to those of Homo Floresiensis.” He continued, “The morphology (shape) of the fossil teeth also suggests that this human lineage represents a dwarfed descendant of early Homo erectus that somehow got marooned on the island of Flores. What is truly unexpected is that the size of the finds indicates that Homo Floresiensis had already obtained its small size by at least 700,000 years ago.”
The original hobbits to be found (those that became extinct 50,000 years ago) were at first believed to have lived on Flores until pretty recently—as recent as 12,000 years ago. This was later revised to 50,000 after some tests were done on the remains.
When the team initially uncovered the younger hobbits, they thought that the remains belonged to modern humans who were affected by microcephaly. Microcephaly is a birth defect that causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads. Since these hobbits were the first of their kind to be discovered, it was not an invalid theory.
The leader of this team was Dr. Gert van den Bergh, who comes from the University of Wollongong in Australia. He commented on the consequences such a find could have on our understanding of our own species’ history. “This find has important implications for our understanding of early human dispersal and evolution in the region and quashes once and for all any doubters that believe Homo Floresiensis was merely a sick modern human (Homo sapiens).”
As for how they lived, researchers believe that the ancient hobbits lived in a hot, dry savannah-like grassland, but would venture into the wetlands located nearby. There isn’t enough information to determine whether the hobbits were completely sedentary or if they were nomadic. Scientists have not yet commented on how intelligent they believe the hobbits to how been, but simple stone tools that are similar to those associated with H. Floresiensis were discovered in the same sandstone rock layer as the fossils. This indicates that although they might not have been capable of complicated mathematics, these hobbits did have some problem-solving abilities, as well as thumbs with which they used to wield these tools.
Ugunduzi mpya waweza kumaanisha mambo makubwa kwa jamaa zetu wa kale wa "hobbit". "Hobbit ya kwanza ya binadamu iligunduliwa mnamo 2003 na ilikuwa na ""mzizi wa watu"" wa miaka kumi iliyopita." Inaaminika kwamba walikuwa na urefu wa meta moja hivi na waliishi kwenye kisiwa kimoja cha Indonesia. Homo floresiensis ilitoweka miaka 50,000 iliyopita. Mabaki yao yalipatikana katika pango kwenye kisiwa kinachoitwa Liang Bua. Katika kisiwa cha Flores, karibu na eneo la Homo floresiensis, mifupa ya watu wachache zaidi imepatikana. Wanasayansi wanaamini kuwa mabaki hayo ni ya watu watatu tofauti na yamepatikana miaka 700,000 iliyopita. Mabaki ya wanadamu wa Lilliputian yalichimbuliwa kutoka kwenye kitanda cha mto wa kale huko Mata Menge, kulingana na jarida la Nature. Vitu hivyo vilivumbuliwa na wataalamu wa afya, na vilikuwa na meno sita, mawili ya maziwa ya mtoto mchanga, na sehemu ya mfupa wa taya. Mfupa huu wa taya unaaminika kuwa ulitoka kwa mtu mzima lakini ni mdogo kwa asilimia ishirini kuliko ule wa mwenzake wa hivi karibuni wa hobbit. "Wanasayansi wanaamini kwamba uvumbuzi huu unathibitisha nadharia ya kwamba ""hobbits"" - waliopewa jina la viumbe wa hali ya chini katika hadithi ya J.R.R. Tolkien ya Bwana wa Pete - walitokana na babu wa mapema wa wanadamu wa kisasa, aitwaye Homo erectus." Hobbits walikuwa wamekaa kwenye kisiwa cha Tokyo, Japan, na walikuwa na umri wa miaka kumi na tano, na mmoja wao ni Yousuke Kaifu, mtaalamu wa sayansi wa asili wa Japan. "Kama ilivyoelezwa na Dr. Kaifu, ""Fossils zote ni hominin na zinaonekana kuwa sawa na zile za Homo floresiensis"" na ""Morphology (umbo) la meno ya fossil pia inaonyesha kwamba mstari huu wa binadamu inawakilisha mzao dwarfed ya mapema Homo erectus kwamba kwa namna fulani got marooned katika kisiwa cha Flores." "Kile ambacho hakutarajiwa ni kwamba ukubwa wa vitu hivyo unaonyesha kwamba Homo floresiensis ilikuwa tayari imepata ukubwa wake mdogo kwa angalau miaka 700,000 iliyopita. ""Hobbit za awali zilizopatikana (zile zilizotoweka miaka 50,000 iliyopita) mwanzoni ziliaminiwa kuwa ziliishi Flores hadi hivi karibuni, kama miaka 12,000 iliyopita." Idadi hiyo ilibadilishwa kuwa 50,000 baada ya uchunguzi fulani kufanywa kwenye mabaki hayo. Wakati wa kwanza wa utafiti huo, wataalamu walifikiri kwamba mabaki ya watu hao walikuwa ya binadamu wa kisasa ambao walikuwa na microcephaly. Microcephaly ni kasoro ya kuzaliwa ambayo husababisha watoto kuzaliwa na vichwa vidogo sana. Kwa kuwa hao Hobbits walikuwa wa kwanza wa aina yao kugunduliwa, haikuwa nadharia isiyofaa. Mkurugenzi wa kikundi hicho alikuwa Dakt. Gert van den Bergh, kutoka Chuo Kikuu cha Wollongong nchini Australia. Alitoa maoni juu ya matokeo ambayo ugunduzi kama huo ungeweza kuwa nayo juu ya uelewa wetu wa historia ya spishi yetu wenyewe. "Ugunduzi huu una athari muhimu kwa uelewa wetu wa kuenea na mageuzi ya binadamu wa mapema katika mkoa huo na unashinda mara moja na kwa wote watu wowote wanaotilia shaka kwamba Homo floresiensis alikuwa tu binadamu mgonjwa wa kisasa (Homo sapiens) ""Kuhusu jinsi waliishi, watafiti wanaamini kwamba hobbits wa kale waliishi katika nyasi za joto, kavu kama savanna, lakini wangehamia kwenye maeneo ya mvua yaliyo karibu." Hakuna habari ya kutosha kuamua kama hobbits walikuwa kabisa sedentary au kama walikuwa nomadic. Wataalamu wa sayansi hawajaeleza jinsi walivyo na akili, lakini vifaa vya mawe vilivyopatikana katika mawe ya mchanga vilivyoonekana kwenye mabaki ya mawe hayo vilipatikana. Hii inaonyesha kwamba ingawa hawawezi kuwa na uwezo wa hesabu ngumu, hawa hobbits walikuwa na baadhi ya uwezo wa kutatua matatizo, kama vile thumbs ambayo walitumia kutumia zana hizi.