A jawbone, arm fragments and teeth recently discovered at an archaeological site in Indonesia have revealed the existence of a small human ancestor known as the “hobbit” that lived about 700,000 years ago.
Named after J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, the “hobbit” is thought to be even smaller than any previously discovered descendants of “hobbits,” a human species that lived between 60,000 and 100,000 years ago and was about 3 feet 6 inches tall.
The new fossils were unearthed at a site called Mata Menge on the Indonesian island of Flores, 45 miles from where the remains of a larger hobbit were discovered 20 years ago.
When the arm bone fragment, just 3.5 inches long, was first bagged, it was initially classified as a possible alligator bone fragment.
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This photo, provided by Yosuke Kaifu, shows a fragment of an arm bone unearthed on the Indonesian island of Flores. A new study suggests that the ancestors of the early humans nicknamed “Hobbits” were even shorter. (via AP, Kaifu Yosuke)
The bones represent a human ancestor that would have been about three inches shorter than its later “hobbit” descendants, who stood about 3 feet 3 inches tall.
Ever since the discovery of Homo floresiensis, a rather tall “hobbit,” in 2003, scientists have wondered about its origins.
“We didn’t expect to find a much smaller individual at such an ancient site,” Yosuke Kaifu, a study co-author at the University of Tokyo who published the results Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, told The Associated Press.
The bones represent a human ancestor that is believed to have been about three inches shorter than later “hobbit” descendants, who stood about three feet three inches tall. (Associated Press)
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Dean Falk, an evolutionary anthropologist at Florida State University, added that the researchers “convincingly show that these were very small individuals.”
The Mata Menge excavation site on the Indonesian island of Flores, where the bone fragments were found. (Gerrit van den Berg via The Associated Press)
Scientists believe that hobbits may have evolved from the slightly taller Homo erectus, or may have come from a more primitive species of human.
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“This question remains unanswered and will likely remain a focus of research for some time to come,” Matt Toccelli, an anthropologist at Lakehead University in Canada, told The Associated Press.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
