Modern humans led to extinction of hobbits

Modern humans may have lived alongside the last ‘hobbits’, which could have led to interaction between the two species and ultimately the extinction of the small-stature creatures, a new study suggests.

New evidence shows that modern humans (Homo sapiens) were likely using fire at Liang Bua 41,000 years ago, narrowing the time gap between the last hobbits (Homo floresiensis) and the first modern humans on the Indonesian island of Flores.

The research, led by the University of Wollongong Australia (UOW) and Indonesia’s National Research Centre for Archaeology, is among the earliest evidence of modern humans in Southeast Asia.

Mike Morley from UOW said the find is “extremely important” in the quest to discover why and how the hobbit disappeared, around 50,000 years ago.

Researchers first uncovered the remains of a previously unknown species of small-stature hominins in 2003. Homo floresiensis were dubbed ‘the hobbit’ for its tiny one-metre stature.

After revised dating estimates of the original hobbit skeleton placed the bones between 190,000 and 60,000 years old (it was previously believed to have survived on Flores until as recently as 12,000 years ago), and the most recent stone tools at 50,000 years old, a gap in the chronology of the sediment sequence opened up — researchers had no idea what happened at the site between 46,000 and 20,000 years ago.

In the new study, scientists were able to fill that gap, detailing environmental changes at the site between 190,000 and 20,000 years ago.

They found physical evidence of fire places that were used between 41,000 and 24,000 years ago, most likely by modern humans for warmth and/or cooking.

“We now know that the hobbits only survived until around 50,000 years ago at Liang Bua. We also know that modern humans arrived in Southeast Asia and Australia at least 50,000 years ago, and most likely quite a bit earlier,” Morley said.

Given that no evidence for the use of fire by Homo floresiensis during roughly 130,000 years of presence at the site has been found, Morley said modern humans are the most likely candidates for the construction of the fire places.

Researchers are now searching for more evidence that further closes that gap in time, that could place modern humans at exactly the right place, at the right time, possibly unveiling an overlap between the two species, which could have led to interaction between them and ultimately the hobbit’s extinction.

The study also acts as further evidence of Homo sapiens dispersal through Southeast Asia and into Australia around 50,000 years ago.

The findings quash any remaining doubt that Homo floresiensis was a modern human afflicted with a disease causing the diminutive stature, researchers said. The study was published in the Journal of Archaeological Science.