The Hobbit

By Angus Martel

• Your report should answer all of the following: • 1. Why is this considered one of the world’s greatest archaeological finds? • 2. Who found it? Is the person famous for other finds? • 3. When was it found?• 4. How was it found? Was it found accidentally or purposefully? • 5. What archaeological techniques were used? • 6. What difficulties were encountered? How were they overcome? • 7. What artefacts were found and what do they reveal about the

culture/people who left them behind? • 8. Where are the artefacts now? • 9. Can people view them? • 10. What has the find taught you about history and the work of

archaeologists and historians?

Why is the Hobbit a famous archaeological find?

Because it is a new species of human which is very fascinating. The hobbit is a lot smaller then the average human they are the size of “little people”. There were story's of little people in the folk tales of the native people of the Flores island. No one expected to find other forms of humans in the region of the world where the remains were found. The discovery raises questions about the migrations of human species around the globe.

http://www.thelandofshadow.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/professor_mike_morwood_with_a_hobbit_skull_homo_floresiensis.jpg downloaded16.02.2014

Who found it? Is the person famous for other finds?

Mike Morwoods research team discovered “the hobbit”. He had done a lot of work on Australian Aboriginal Rock Art in Queensland. He had also studied ancient stone tools. Many people wonder how the Australian aboriginal people travelled to Australia so long ago. Mike was investigating the similarity of stone tools in Australia and Indonesia to see if this gave a clue to how humans first came to Australia.

The limestone cave Liang bu,a Flores Island, Indonesia.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d3/Homo_floresiensis_cave.jpg/250px-Homo_floresiensis_cave.jpg downloaded 16.02.2014

When was the discovery made?The discovery of human bones was made on Flores an island of Indonesia in 2003. Archaeologists were studying stone tools. The remains of nine individuals and one complete skull were found along with stone tools that were from 94000 to 13000 years old.The bones were found in the same layer as the bones of an extinct elephant of the genus Stegadon ( a dwarf elephant). Other animals present at the time include the komodo dragon and giant rats.

Where was the discovery made?

http://humanorigins.si.edu/research/asian-research/hobbits

Flores island is on the eastern side of an imaginary line called the Wallace Line. The Wallace Line defines a biogeographical region of the world. On the Western side there are many different species of mammals compared to the Eastern side of the Wallace line. The whole Indonesion region is one of complex ocean geography where tectonic plates meet and there is lots of earthquake and volcano activity. The region has extensive biodiversity covering animals plants and fish.

What archaeological techniques were used?

The remains of “the hobbit” were in a lime stone cave. So they walked and walked and came across a cave and that was the cave of the hobbits that is were they found the hobbits skeletons. But they took paint brushes. While looking for evidence of ancient stone tools one of the research team recognised that some of the bones found were in fact those of human origin. This was a surprise or accidental discovery.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/3335112/Scientists-find-new-species-of-3ft-humans.html downloaded 16.02.2014

Archaeology of the Liang Bua caveThe first scientific work at Liang Bua was undertaken in 1965 by father Theodorus Verhoeven, a catholic missionary based at the Mataloko seminary. He first visited the cave when it was being used as a local elementary school. His excavations yielded high concertrations of stone artefacts, burials and pottery, which proved the archeological potential ot the site.Liang Bua Cave, Flores island IndonesiaAfter Verhoeven, the next excavation were undertaken by Prof.R.P.Soejono from the indonesian National Research centre for Archaeology (now National research and development centre for Archaeology) between 1978 and 1989.This showed that the site contained stratified cultural deposits spanning the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic,Neolithic, and Palaeo-Metallic periods. Radiocarbon dates from 3 metres depth also showed that the site was occupied by modern humans from at least 10.000 years ago.The remains of Homo floresiensis were found 6 metres under the surface of the cave.

http://www.floresexotictours.com/information/flores-hobbit

http://sososcience.com/tag/homo-floresiensis/ downloaded 16.02.2014

Difficulties encountered with the discovery

Many people did not believe that “the hobbit” could be a different species of human. Many thought that the hobbits were normal people with a genetic mutation that caused dwarfism. The real story of human evolution seems to have a lot of missing information. Why are there so few remains of ancient humans?

http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/homo_floresiensis.php downloaded 16.02.2014

Where are the artifacts now?The artifacts could be at the Smithsonian Institute in America or Indonesia.I could not find out if the artifacts can be viewed by the public.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/10/photogalleries/homo_floresiensis_1/images/primary/Homo-Chart.jpg downloaded 16.02.2014

The role of Archaeologists and Historians

The role of archaeologists is to be very patient and show very close attention to detail

The role of historians to search for all sources of reliable information, test those sources and preserve those records and report accurately their findings.

Sources

•http://humanorigins.si.edu/research/asian-research/hobbits

•http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_floresiensis

•http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-24/professor-michael-mike-john-morwood-obituary/4841296

•http://www.floresexotictours.com/

Personal communication Professor Wendy Beck Archaeologist UNE

•http://australianmuseum.net.au/Homo-floresiensis