Scientists Find Prehistoric Dwarf Skeleton (AP)

[On the Road]

In a breathtaking discovery, scientists working on a remote Indonesian island say they have uncovered the bones of a human dwarf species marooned for eons while modern man rapidly colonized the rest of the planet.

One tiny specimen, an adult female measuring about 3 feet tall, is described as "the most extreme" figure to be included in the extended human family. Certainly, she is the shortest.

This hobbit-sized creature appears to have lived as recently as 18,000 years ago on the island of Flores, a kind of tropical Lost World populated by giant lizards and miniature elephants.

--snip

The discovery has astonished anthropologists unlike any in recent memory. Flores Man is a totally new creature that was fundamentally different from modern humans. Yet it lived until the threshold of recorded human history, probably crossing paths with the ancestors of today's islanders.

---snip

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=624&ncid=624&e=3&u=/ap/20041027/ap_on_sc/dwarf_cavewoman



=====================

Wow -- Read the article. This is no ape or missing link. It's a completely different humanoid species who lit fires, made stone tools, and organized group hunts. It really changes the perspective.

[CO Liberal]

1. Gary Coleman - The Missing Link

:-)

[AIJ Alom]

2. Incredible find. Simply astounding !

[SheepyMcSheepster]

3. wow, that is interesting, thanks for the heads up. eom

[DrWeird]

4. Wow, an ancient race of skeleton people.

nt

[Worst Username Ever]

5. Hehe. They say "homo."

:P

[Shakespeare]

6. SEE? I TOLD you Oompa Loompas were real!!

[HEIL PRESIDENT GOD]

7. "Little people" stories are universal...

Like the Flood. Melting of the Ice Age glaciers would have caused quite a flood, right about when we were really coming into our own culturally speaking.

Perhaps these ancient dwarves were more widespread... Especially if they came by raft from elsewhere.

I am excited but not entirely surprised!

[papau]

13. That was my first thought also! A very neat find!

:-)

[DELUSIONAL]

15. The Hawaiians have a lot of talk-stories about little people

who inhabited the islands before the normal sized people came to the island. As kids we would blame oopies (things that go wrong) on the Menuhin's or menihune or menahune(spelling probably not correct).

Yes the little people talk-stories can be found in many cultures.


Amazing that these folk tales that have been handed down for generations & generations has some basis in fact.

This is why I find the oral history -- cultural Anthropology so darn interesting and a great antidote to current events (a.k.a. Politics).

[saigon68]

26. kick

[ixion]

8. a fascinating find, to be sure.

thanks for posting this!

[LiberalEsto]

9. This must be Tattoo's ancestress....

is flores anywhere near Fantasy island?

[semillama]

11. I wonder if there is any connection to legends of the Orang Pendek?

That's a small hairy man-like creature that's supposed to be like the mini-version of Bigfoot in SE asia. You can probably find out more from google.

As an archaeologist, I'm looking forward to seeing how this alters debate. Me, I was initially amazed, but in context, it makes sense. If elephants and hippos can develop dwarf species, why not hominids in a similar context?

[blackspade]

21. nice to know....

that there are other archaeologists here!

I find this totally cool.
Just goes to show you that there are new things to be learned every day.
So sad that the 'thugs forget this!

[Garbo 2004]

10. Cool! Thanks for posting this. n/t

[moggie]

12. Hmm...

Short, fundamentally different from modern humans, eventually lost out to better-evolved people... :think: Did it have a mysterious bulge on its back?

[LibDemAlways]

17. Yes, though its been attributed to

ill-fitting animal skins.

[davidinalameda]

14. hobbits!

This hobbit-sized creature appears to have lived as recently as 18,000 years ago on the island of Flores, a kind of tropical Lost World populated by giant lizards and miniature elephants.

[Crunchy Frog]

22. That would be miniature oliphaunts.

:D

[hippiechick]

16. Why are they calling it 'Flores Man' when it's a woman ?

:shrug:


:hippie:

[PatGund]

18. I'm in doubt on this one....

Until we see more remains, I'm wondering if we're indeed looking at a new species, or a "sport" in either H. Erectus or H. Sapiens.

[MrMonk]

19. "Hobbit-sized"?

I don't know which is more interesting: that we may have found a proto-hobbit, or that "hobbit" is now a standard for comparing sizes.

[DrZeeLit]

20. Scribbled nearby a note...

... "Da plane! Da plane!"

[Crunchy Frog]

23. Excavations suggest that their appearance and communities

somewhat resembled this,

[Bonobo]

24. Incredible find.

A dwarf form of homo erectus that uses fire and makes decent tools... Sounds reasonable to me. It never made sense in my mind how we wouldn't be surprised that apes survived humans to this point but we can't imagine a hominid closer to us.

BTW, Jeffrey Schwartz is considered a bit of a nut among some anthropologists. He had some weird ideas wrt orangutan dental evolution and how it shows that humans and orangs are more closely related than humans and chimps.

[saigon68]

25. MY GOD THEY FOUND SENATOR LIEBERMANN

YIKES

Prehistoric Dwarf Skeleton

[mistertrickster]

27. They named him "Liam, the loose bowelled leprauchaun."

nt