Picture note: Small Flores people, picture from the Internet
In human civilizations around the world, there are legends of dwarfs or elves. Based on thousands of years of records and discoveries, scientists believe that dwarfs do not exist, but the discovery from the Indonesian island of Flores in the early 2000s proves that there was really a group of dwarfs living on Earth, they are Flores people.
Photo note: Pleasant flores island, picture from the internet
Image note: Flores Island is located in eastern Indonesia, the image comes from the internet
In 2003, a team of Australian and Indonesian researchers came to Indonesia to the islands to try to find fossil evidence of the migration of hominids from Asia to Australia. In a cave on flores Island called "liang bua", the expedition found fossils of ancient humans, of which the more complete fossil number is lb1, which comes from the initials of the cave name. The discovery of lb1 attracted the attention of the expedition team, and in subsequent excavations, 7 other paleoanthropminal fossils were found, judging that these ancient humans lived between 95,000 and 13,000 years ago.
Photo note: Discover the cave of the Flores people, picture from the internet
Illustration: Researchers excavating in caves, picture from the web
The ancient human fossils found on Flores Island were only 1 meter tall, and at first everyone thought that these fossils belonged to children, but after diagnosing the physical characteristics of lb1, the researchers found that she was 20 years old, which means that she was fully adult! It was only by this time that the scientists involved in the study realized that they had discovered the legendary dwarf!
Image note: Fossil bones of floresians, picture from the internet
The researchers are showing the fossil numbered "lb1" Flores, pictured from the web
In October 2004, a paper entitled "A new small-bodied hominin from the late pleistocene of flores, indonesia" was published in the prestigious journal Nature, in which the dwarfs found on Flores Island were officially named homo floresiensis.
Picture note: The hobbit in the movie "The Lord of the Rings", picture from the Internet
The movies "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbits" let us know the imaginary race of hobbits. In the Middle-earth world constructed by the famous writer Tolkien, the hobbits were a small, but athletic people with an average height of only 1 meter. When scientists found dwarfs on Flores Island, they immediately thought of hobbits, so they gave lb1 the nickname "hobbit".
Illustration: Flores (left) vs. modern Homo sapiens (center) and Neanderthals (right) in size, image from the web
As a model specimen of flores, lb1, the most complete fossil, provides us with the best reference for flores human body type. The height of lb1 is 1.06 meters, while the height of another Flores is speculated to be 1.09 meters, which is far lower than the shortest humans today: the Saiman people living in the Malay Peninsula, with an average adult female height of 1.37 meters; the Andaman people living in the Andaman Islands, the average height of adult women is also 1.37 meters.
Photo note: The flores skull in the hands of the researchers, picture from the network
The Flores were not only short, but also very light, weighing about 25 kilograms, which was only the weight of a child in the lower grades of primary school. In addition to its small size, the Flores brain is also very small, with a brain capacity of only 380 cubic centimeters, while the brain capacity of modern humans is about 1400 cubic centimeters.
Judging by the size of the Flores, it is very appropriate to call them "Hobbits", but the Flores obviously do not reach the intelligence level of "Hobbits".
About 2 million years ago, a group of Homo erectus came to Flores Island via a road bridge, and due to the very limited resources on the tropical islands, they could not provide enough food, so these humans became smaller and smaller, and eventually became dwarfs only 1 meter tall.
Illustration: Flores face restoration, picture from the internet
From a taxonomic point of view, flores belong to the primate class - human family - human - human genus - Flores species, is a member of the extinct genus of man, belongs to a relatively primitive branch. There have always been divergent views of the specific position and relationship of Flores in the genus, with the prevailing view being of the primitive type.
Image note: Ecological restoration on flores island hundreds of thousands of years ago, picture from the Internet
Although the Flores were primitive and had a low brain capacity, they were able to make stone tools, hunt in groups, and use fire. On the resource-poor islands, in addition to gathering, the flores' main prey was the large rodents and florensis (stegodon florensis). How did the diminutive Flores hunt elephants? In fact, due to its long-term life on the island, the Flores saber-toothed elephant has also become smaller and smaller, eventually becoming a "mini" elephant with a height of 1.5 meters and a weight of 800 kilograms. Flores, who knew how to use tools, would besiege and kill flores saber-toothed elephants, then decompose their bodies and bring them back to their caves to be roasted and eaten.
Illustration: Flores bones, teeth of stone tools and saber-toothed elephants, image from the Internet
Illustration: Flores who hunted saber-toothed elephants, picture from the Internet
There is not only food but also terrifying predators on Flores Island, notable among them are the 3-meter-long Varanus komodoensis and the 1.8-meter-tall strong bald stork (leptoptilos robustus). It is truly a coincidence that the world's largest lizard lives with the smallest humans, and the Komodo dragon is definitely a florels nightmare.
Illustration: Flores people who met the Komodo dragon, picture from the internet
Illustration: Flores people living in the shadow of the Komodo dragon, picture from the Internet
In addition to the threat from the ground, the Flores had to beware of being overhead, because there was a giant bird that could fly and hurt them, and this giant bird was the strong vulture. Strong vultures stand with their heads up to 1.8 meters above the ground and weigh about 16 kilograms, and their long, hard beaks can easily pierce the body of flores. Despite the dangers, the Flores lived on flores island until 13,000 years ago.
Illustration: A cartoon of a strong vulture preying on flores people, picture from the Internet
Image note: Strong vultures competing with flores for food, image from the internet
Geological and archaeological evidence suggests that flores lived between 1.9 million and 50,000 years ago, but some scholars believe that flores were only extinct 12,000 years ago, along with the aforementioned Flores saber-toothed elephant and the strong vulture. Although flores were extinct, they were the last humanoids to become extinct except Homo sapiens, as we know Neanderthals, who became extinct 40,000 years ago.
What caused the extinction of the Flores? Some believe that it was a volcanic eruption 12,000 years ago, but more information points to us Homo sapiens. About 50,000 years ago, Homo sapiens came to Flores Island on a bamboo raft, where they first met the Flores people. Despite belonging to the same genus, Homo sapiens was not soft on flores, and homo sapiens with intellectual and physical superiority quickly suppressed them in the conflict with the Flores and eventually killed the Flores, so that the saber-toothed elephants and vultures on flores and Flores Island disappeared 12,000 years ago.
Illustration: Migration roadmap of modern Homo sapiens, picture from the network
Although it is generally believed that the Flores lived 12,000 years ago, legends from the inhabitants of Flores Island suggest that these dwarfs may have lived until hundreds of years ago. The inhabitants of Flores Island mentioned a type of dwarf called the "ebu gogo", which grew hair like monkeys, but could walk upright and also learned to speak "human language". Legend has it that the "ebu gogo" eats everything and has their own language, and they live in the thick jungle. Due to food scarcity, "ebu gogo" often stole crops and poultry from residents, and the conflict between the two sides intensified. The final flashpoint between the two sides was that the "ebu gogo" stole the villagers' babies and ate them, so the "ebu gogo" was designed to burn them all in a cave on the cliff in the 18th century, when Dutch colonists had arrived on Flores Island. According to legends from Flores Island, some even believe that flores people still live today in the jungles of the island that are difficult to tread.
Picture note: We killed all the Flores people, the picture is from the internet
The last Flores people survived until when more discoveries by paleontologists and archaeologists are needed, but according to current research, flores people are extinct. These dwarfs who once lived on Earth became the last members of the genus to disappear, and it was we Homo sapiens who murdered them.
Resources:
1.zimmer, carl (20 june 2016). "are hobbits real?". new york times. retrieved 21 june 2016.
2.brown, p.; et al. (27 october 2004). "a new small-bodied hominin from the late pleistocene of flores, indonesia". nature. 431 (7012): 1055–1061. bibcode:2004natur.431.1055b. doi:10.1038/nature02999. pmid 15514638.
3.morwood, m. j.; et al. (13 october 2005). "further evidence for small-bodied hominins from the late pleistocene of flores, indonesia". nature. 437 (7061): 1012–1017. bibcode:2005natur.437.1012m. doi:10.1038/nature04022. pmid 16229067.
^ jump up to: a b c d e f morwood, m. j.; et al. (27 october 2004). "archaeology and age of a new hominin from flores in easternindonesia". nature. 431 (7012): 1087–1091