Human origins, human problems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Human origins, human problems - Essay Example The paper is summarized in a concluding paragraph and Harvard referencing style has been used properly. 2. Introduction to the Hobbit Before going into the details of the subject matter, let’s first get to understand what Homo floresiensis actually is. Homo floresiensis, literally meaning Man of Flores, was discovered by Michael Moore’s team at the Liang Bua cave1 on the island of Flores in Indonesia2 on September 2003. Nicknamed as the Hobbit, it is believed to be a species known for its small sized body and brain whose fossils, according to archeologists, have been found somewhere 38,000 to 18,000 years ago3. More specifically speaking, the size is said to be â€Å"only about 1 meter in height and fully bipedal, with a very small brain size of 417cc†4. Homo floresiensis may be called contemporaries of Homo sapiens. Scientists suggest that since it is usual that large mammals may exist on islands in their dwarf form, hence Homo floresiensis may also be a dwarf f orm of Homo erectus. Mayell5 states that the skulls of the tiny humans were the size of grapefruits and they lived on pygmy elephants, Komodo dragons, and big rats found on the island. 3. Homo Floresiensis (LB1) in Human Evolution 3.1. ... The found specimen, LB1, contains leg bones, hands, feet, pelvis, and other remains which are both primitive and derived. LB1 is said to be the fossil of an adult who might be the age of 30. An analysis of its pelvis revealed that it was the skeleton of a female. It would have been a bit larger on size if it was a male although all fossil found so far are of the same size as LB1. Since, the individual was of young age, the bones of the skeleton had not fossilized as yet and are reported to be in the consistency of mashed potatoes or wet blotting paper. The brain size is as small as 380cc that is a chimpanzee’s brain’s size. With the fossils of LB1, some stone tools were also found which a homini with such a small sized brain cannot make. Thus the tools are believed to be created by Homo sapiens. Anthropologists, for example, Peter Brown, Michael Morwood and their colleagues argue about LB1 that â€Å"it was contemporaneous with modern humans (Homo sapiens) on Floresâ⠂¬ 6. 3.2. Evolution Homo floresiensis are said to have evolved from Homo erectus and the result is a tremendous decrease in the body and brain size. Because of the reduced brain size, archeologists also suggest that the â€Å"floresiensis might actually have evolved from something smaller, such as the Dmanisi hominids found in Georgia, some of which have brain sizes between 600 and 700 cc, smaller than the 800-900cc typical of early erectus†7. Also, when stone tools were found on another location in Flores in 1998, it was said that these tools may be the creation of Homo erectus because these were the pre-sapiens hominids existing in Indonesia who are thought to have crossed the sea-passage that separates Flores from Java. Some archeologists believe that these