Ping.
Posted on 08/03/2009 6:38:16 PM PDT by BGHater
They were just one metre tall with very long arms, no chins, wrist bones like gorillas and extremely long feet.
In 2003, archaeologists excavating in a cave on the Indonesian island of Flores made a discovery that forced scientists to completely rethink conventional theories of human evolution.
They reported the discovery of a new species of human, one that lived as recently as 12,000 years ago, at the same time as modern humans.
But others disagreed, arguing the one-metre-high skeleton was a modern human that suffered from a deformity known as microcephaly.
The debate has raged ever since. But Debbie Argue, a PhD student from the ANU's Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, believes she has settled the question by comparing bone fragments from the hobbits to other hominids.
"We compared them to almost every species in our genus, as well as Australopithecine, which was a genus before Homo evolved," Ms Argue said.
"Of course, we included Homo sapiens.
"We discovered that Homo floresiensis ranged off the family tree almost at the beginning of the evolution of our genus, Homo.
"So that would have been over two million years ago, and as such a very, very primitive being."
'Paradigm shift'
Ms Argue's work was published recently in the Journal of Human Evolution.
She describes the work as a paradigm shift in archaeology, overturning the notion that Homo sapiens were the only hominids on the planet after the extinction of Homo erectus and the Neanderthals.
"This is science, so maybe [it's] not the definitive proof but a very, very solid hypothesis," she said.
"This is the first time such a huge and comprehensive set of characteristics about the whole of the body of Homo floresiensis has been but into one analysis."
Ms Argue says her work challenges another major cornerstone in the theory of human evolution.
"This means that something very, very primitive came out of Africa," she said.
"Previous to this we thought that what came out of Africa had modern body proportions and an expanded brain case, but this is a much more primitive being.
"We know that Homo floresiensis was, in Flores at least, from 100,000 years ago to about 12,000 years ago. And at that time, or at least from 40,000 years ago, we had modern humans in Asia and New Guinea and Australia.
"So here we were sharing the planet where we thought we'd been the only people that survived after the end of the Neanderthals."
Hobbits? We've got a cave full
'Turney said that one of the team's next projects would be to investigate the island folklore, to see if there was any more scientific proof of the hobbits and how and when they became extinct.
He added that the islanders could not have made up their stories because they were giving detailed accounts before the discovery was made.
"They said Homo floresiensis were around until 200 years ago, when they stole a baby from the village. The villagers said their ancestors tossed hay and torches into a volcanic cave where the hominids lived and burned them all.
"We will go back and look for this cave by a village near the town of Bajawa."'
Ping.
Sure now, don’t you know leprechauns when you see them? The Little People are still with us. If you don’t believe me, Messrs. Bushmill and Jameson may convince you.
I’ve long suspected that the Hawaiian legend of the Menehana on Kauai sounded a bit suspicious. They just don’t fit the profile of “little people” legends elsewhere in the world.
While seen as “vaguely lucky”, the Menehana are not seen as magical, just as “little people over there”, which sounds more like a reference to another tribe, now extinct. Along with “vaguely lucky” there seems to be a “vague apprehension” about them as well.
I suspect that the Hawaiians also got around to exterminating them, if for no particular reason, then just general principles.
“Pot o’ Gold” takes on a whole new meaning sometimes... ;’)
Thanks yefragetuwrabrumuy!
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Thanks BGHater! |
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I only see them when my friends Lagavulin and Laphroaig visit...
There's more to us than the Out Of Africa BS.
“This means that something very, very primitive came out of Africa,” she said. “
Obama????
I understand these medications are available at the market in Brigadoon. But unfortunately, they only work on Caledonian Little People, which does one precious little good if you are trying to follow the Leprechaunis Hibernensis.
Now as is well known, if one should want to see the Indonesian Little Folk, one must leave a human baby outside of their cave. Have a couple of snorts of palm wine, or whatever these worthy oriental gentlemen drink, and set up a simple box trap. It would also be a good idea to have a Japanese tourist at the ready with his trusty camera. Without proper documentation, you might as well be fooling around in Kenya.
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