Hobbit women called her Flo. In Indonesia, found ancestors of famous fossil hobbits

The date: 30.10.2019

The progenitors of Frodo and Sam from the "Lord of the Rings" could well be completely real characters - Dwarf People Floresites, extinct approximately 12 thousand years ago.

And this, of course, is not news. The hypothesis about this has long been running in scientific circles, but recently, in one of his lectures, the famous anthropologist Stanislav Drobyshevsky told about it in more detail.

"It is possible that some real events of the distant past existence of ancient hominids could affect mythology and folklore, and maybe, on the contrary, folklore affected some ideas that people perceive as scientific," Stanislav Drobyshevsky said.

Recall that in 2004, the remains of a certain very unusual species of the hominid, who were called hobbits were described in 2004 in the Flores Island, which were called Hobbits - in honor of all the famous characters Tolkien. The fact is that the remains belonged to a woman who had a height less than one and a half meters. But it was not a sensation - on earth, as you know, today there are quite a lot of very low populations (for example, African or Indonesian pigments). Archaeologists struck another - Skull Homo Floresiensis, which had a number of features. The main one was the extremely small volume of the brain - only about 400 grams. It is so much that weighs the chimpanzee brain, and on average even a little more - 400-450 grams. Interestingly, the remains of hobbits on anthropological standards turned out to be very "young" - they are from 95 to 12 thousand years. Thus, Floresians could live in those times when our ancestors in the ancient East had already tamed the goat, that is, 12 thousand years ago.

Among the remains of the hobbits were found and stone tools of labor. It turned out that the creature with the brain, the weight of which is 400 grams, could produce a chisel, scrapers and axes from stone. Until now, it was believed that Brain Rubicik - 700-750 grams. The sizes of the brain below this boundary are critical for the manifestation of purely human properties, such as complex communication, the manufacture of stone tools of labor, the use of fire, etc. However, in the cave Liang-Bois traces of fire is not found, as not detected and burials - the bones of Florese residents are discovered In chaotic order throughout the cave.

Therefore, the remains of the Hobbits very often "attack": some groups of scientists have long been attempting to prove that the bones and skull belong to microcephal (microcephalus is a significant decrease in the sizes of the skull and, accordingly, the brain in the normal size of other parts of the body; accompanied by mental deficiency - From non-view of pronounced immibilities to idiocy. It is rare, on average in one case by 6-8 thousand births - NS), and not so long ago it was published an article where the authors put forward the assumption that these are the remains of people patients with Down syndrome.

However, most scientists adhere to opinions That this is not the case and we are dealing with the remains of healthy, but, of course, the hominids are primitive and not similar to us. The main argument - the remains of not one or two hobbits are found in the cave, and entire seventeen. It is too unlikely that all of them sick microcephalus, Down syndrome, etc. The population of microcephalov survive (especially in those days) simply could not. Most likely, Floresites are the ancestors of Peteitrontrops, which came here about 1 million years ago from Java Island. In island conditions, as often happens, the hominids were crushed (some living beings, as we know, in such conditions, on the contrary, "enlarged", becoming much more than their ancestors on continents - NS) and, unfortunately, degraded (probably , in view of the conditions on the "paradise" island and the possible lack of predators, as well as a small number of food - NS).

On the same island of Flores, not far from the cave of Liang-Bois, there is a Rampasas village, where the wild tribes of people live, which are also small in growth - about one and a half meters, only a little higher hobbits - but quite modern.

It is noteworthy that when archaeologists told about their find to local residents, those immediately arose their myth that these hobbits there are no one else, as their ancestors. But the most interesting thing is that the ethnographers working on the island recorded the legend of the locals about some kind of Gogo Ebe, which sounds like this. When the ancestors of modern Floresian Aboriginalov, the farmers came to this valley from other parts of the island, they met some small shaggy men - Gogo Ebe, who led a very simple way of life and talked on a strange tweethe tongue. At first, everything went peacefully, and residents began to communicate with them, exchange products, etc. But then the Gogo EBO began to steal food and children from residents, so the aborigines destroyed all the ECU GOGO, and those who stayed, drove into a kind of cave Its stones and logs and burned. This is not a LIANG-BU cave, the locals even showed her scientists, but as long as she really remains diluted, she was not excavated yet. All this is presented by the Aboriginal not as a kind of myth, but as a historical fact that they say, happened just before the coming to the island of Europeans. The latter sailed around the XVI century. Of course, among the anthropologists and ethnographers immediately received the distribution version that the Gogo Ebe and there are those the most hobbits, which were found in the Liang Bua cave.

The most surprising is that That other ethnographers worked with the local population in other places found that the same version of the legend exists, for example, on the island of Sulawesi, who, like Flores, belongs to Indonesia. And also in Taiwan and Sri Lanka. So, the aborigines of Sri Lanka told the following legend to ethnographers. When their ancestors came to a certain valley, they met the shaggy men there, who spoke on a strange tweetheist language. At first, they communicated with them and exchanged foods, and then those began to steal food and children, and the ancestors of the Aborigines drove them into the cave and burned. Meanwhile, from Sri Lanka to Flores, as you know, runs a huge distance width, at least half of the Indian Ocean. How could the Floresian legend (or vice versa, a legend of Sri Lanka to the residents of Flores)?

Scientists put forward several explanations to this. The most incredible of them is that events repeated. Another thing is that it is just a mythological plot walking around the world (as mentioned above, a similar legend, with small variations, there is also the aborigines of Sulawesi, and in Taiwan; perhaps the same myths exist in other places in Indonesia). True, legends, as we remember, are dated by the arrival of Europeans - the XVI century, and the youngest dating of the remains from the Liang-Bois cave are 12 thousand years, which is not exactly the same. But it is possible that in other parts of the island of Flores there are also the later remains of the hobbits (although the remains in the tropical climate are preserved very badly, so they will be difficult to find them). Of course, the option is that on the island of Flores, the events described above, and then legends spread about them to other islands. True, the locals of Sri Lanka - Vedasters - lead a very isolated lifestyle. Therefore, they had to get such a legend very and for a long time, definitely not in the XVI century. There is also a version according to which this myth is distributed and has no special relationship to reality. And when people, knowing him, came to Flores and met the hobbits there, they realized a terrible story, as they say, in practice: the inspections of the island have already knew exactly that when meeting with small shaggy men, they need to be driven into the cave and burn.

It is also possible that such a mythological plot could arise when people first encountered Lemors (on Madagascar Island, where there is also a legend about a certain little shaggy man, however, there is a similarity of the plot), monkeys or very lowest tribes that, as It is known to exist and today.

In the fall of 2004, the world found out about the sensational opening: another 13 thousand years ago, people of a modern type lived side by side with representatives of a completely different kind of person: dwarf hominids of meter growth!

Meeting with these "alive fossils" was truly unexpected. In September 2003, Australian scientists led by Professor Michael Morwood discovered in the limestone cave of Lian-boo in the western part of the Indonesian Flores Island, under the six-meter layer of land, well-preserved skull, fragments of legs and hands, as well as ribs and pelvi bones. The age of discovery was 18 thousand years. Presumably, these were the remains of a woman with an increase of 100 cm, weighing from 16 to 29 kg and the same volume of the brain as the chimpanzee. The structure of the pelvis indisputably testified that this carlice moved on two legs, and the erased teeth gave her mature age, although it was an increase from the child. Scientists noted the relics in the structure of her body: for example, a wide pelvis and a long neck of the thigh. But small teeth, a narrow nose, the general shape of the brain part of the skull and the thickness of her bones resembled the structure of the body anatomically modern person.

In the same year, Australian scientists found the remains of another or two dwarf creatures, and in the field of 2004 - another 5 to 7 individuals who received the scientific name Homo Floresiensis. In the surroundings, the name of the "Hobbits" quickly consolidated quickly - by analogy with the heroes of the books J. R.R. Tolkien. The name it turned out to be very specime: after all, it is essentially about the dwarf form of a person!

"These skeletons look sensationally," said one of the participants of the excavation, the archaeologist Peter Brown from the University of New England in Australia, because it was previously assumed that the hominids of such growth with a similar brain size were extinct three million years ago. "

In the cave Lian-Boua "Hobbits" lived at least for 80 thousand years. These were people of small growth, with a small brain volume (about 380 cm. CM), with a beveled chin and characteristic of early Australopites the base of the skull and the structure of the lower jaws of the lower jaw. On the other hand, the thick arch of the skull, a relatively flat face and small indigenous teeth very much resemble a "man of spinning".

Judging by the archaeological finds, "Hobbits" masterfully made stone tools of labor - plates, cutters, scrapers, axes and copies tips. These tools are very much reminded by the very tools of labor used by Homo Sapiens. This is all the more striking that the volume of the brain "Hobbits" three times less than here. According to this sign, the "Hobbits" are located next to Australopita and Homo Habilis, however, those making more primitive labor tools than Homo Sapiens and Homo Floresiensis.

Here is something more curious. For almost 25 thousand years, people and "hobbits" were neighbors, although, to be completely accurate, a modern type man appeared on the island of Flores only in the x millennium BC. e. Everything says that stone items of more than 12 thousand years old, found in Lian-Bois, are made by Homo Floresiensis. It was extinct "hobbits" relatively recently - about 12 thousand years ago, that is, for several tens of millennia, they coexisted next to anatomically modern people and, perhaps, communicated with them. Surprises the complex behavior of hominids, endowed with such a tiny brain: they were hunted together, the fire was mined, made complex stone tools.

"This is one of the main discoveries in Paleoanthropology over the past half a century." So comment on the discovery of scientists. Finds on the island of Flores replenish the gallery of human ancestors with such a character, about which we did not guessed. Immediately there was a question: do we rule out these dwarfs to a new kind of person? Maybe we are talking about well-known Asian pigments inhabiting, in particular, a number of islands in the east of the Indian Ocean? Researchers exclude such an opportunity. First, pygmy (their growth ranges from 1.40 to 1.50 m) almost one and a half times higher than the "Hobbits". Secondly, the brain of Pygmeyev is only a bit inferior in the volume of the brain of Europeans, but almost three times larger than the brain of the inhabitants of Flores. In addition, the massive cranial box of the latter is characteristic of the early forms of man.

"The find, made on the island of Flores, is mysterious. The brain of this magnitude does not fit into our usual ideas, "says German biologist Gerhard Roth. A modern man has a lower boundary of the brain volume of 800 cubic meters. See if the brain is less, it will lead to a sharp weakening of human mental abilities. Why did this not happen to the ancient inhabitants of Flores? Dont clear. Gerhard Roth suggests that neurons in their brain were located extremely tight. And in general, the thought "The larger the size of the brain, the higher the intellect, is not always true. Otherwise, Elephants (their brain, as-no, weigh five kilograms) were much smarter than a person.

However, the high intelligence "Hobbits" was unlikely differed. As evidenced by the research of microcephalts (people with abnormally small brain), they are characterized by a slower reaction; Their speech is mediocre, these people can only be simple phrases. Obviously, the mental abilities of the "Hobbits" were also limited.

"Of course, a person from the Flores Island could live to live with such a small brain. However, it was unlikely that he was smarter than chimpanzees, "the German Zoologist Wolfgang Meer skeptically notices. Other scientists are convinced of the opposite. They attribute the creations of these "hobbits" skillful, sophisticated tools, found in the same place, on the island of Flores. "They are so well made that rather reminiscent of Homo Sapiens tools than Homo Erectus," says the German Paleoanthropologist Miriam Noel Heidla.

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7. The main distinguishing feature of the "Hobbits" is a small brain in combination with low growth - according to the authors, is a consequence of microcephaly. The authors report that microcephaly is usually accompanied by a whole complex of other deviations, among which one of the most common dwarfs. An extremely high degree of ingrowth of the cranial seams, characteristic of the Khobbit skull, could be the root cause of a whole complex of anomalies, including the small volume of the brain. In particular, the authors note a strongly pronounced asymmetry of the skull, especially its facial part. This asymmetry goes beyond what is considered to be a clinical norm, and indicates that the skull from Lang Boua belonged to an individual with serious developmental impairment.

8. The discoverers of "Hobbits" indicated the features of the structure of the teeth, which distinguish their find from modern people. The authors disassemble these features in detail and show that all of them with one or another frequency are found in modern human populations, and some features indicate the proximity of the "Hobbit" to modern Floresian Rampasas Pigmers.

9. Considering the structure of the post-Stranny skeleton (that is, all bones not related to the skull), the authors indicate a number of features that testify that a typical instance H. floresiensis suffered from severe developmental defects. About the post-strang bones of other individuals attributable to the same mind, the authors mention only Casual, noting that "they generally comply with the idea that the population of Lang Boua was a carlikova" and, most importantly, "these bones say nothing about the size cranial boxes of their owners. "

In most textbooks on anthropology, it is possible to read that the chief ledge is one of the most characteristic distinctive features of Homo Sapiens, according to which the jaw of a modern person can always be distinguished from the jaw of Neanderthal or Peteitrope. However, among the Pygmen Rampasas from the island of Flores, individuals are found, devoid of chores. Photo from Jacob et al., 2006.

Many of the listed arguments (especially the third, fourth and seventh), in my opinion, are very vulnerable to criticism. Nevertheless, the article has become a serious blow to the positions of "Optimists". Undoubtedly, all the arguments of skeptics will instantly crumbling in the fluff and dust if you manage to dig on Flores another little skull with the same features. But this has not yet happened.

However, in the last 2-3 years, "Optimists" clearly began to observe. This is seen from the fact that other anthropologists who have not studied "Hobbits", are increasingly using Homo floresiensis As material for comparison and the basis for evolutionary hypotheses. New "optimistic" arguments are put forward.

In 2007, "Optimists" published an article in ScienceIn which the discussion was noticed mainly around the structure of the skull and teeth, although the bones of the limbs in primates can also serve as an important source of information about related links and group affiliation. In particular, the dice of the wrist Homo Sapiens. They have a number of advanced features that have no other modern primates.

The authors showed that these "human" signs are also characteristic of our nearest fossil relatives: Upper Paleolithic Sapirens (Cryanons) and Neanderthals, as well as for Homo Antecessor. - View, which is considered close to the general ancestor of Neanderthals and Sapirens (see below). Insofar as Homo Antecessor. He lived about 1.0-0.8 million years ago, the authors believe that this complex of signs of wrist was formed not later ( TOCHERI ET AL., 2007). Scientists investigated three left-wovers belonging to a typical instance Homo floresiensis (Instance LB1). The bones were dug in September 2003, well preserved and did not carry signs of pathology.

It turned out that all three bones do not have advanced signs characteristic of Sapires and Neanderthals, and are in that initial, primitive state, which is observed in chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, Australopiteks and Habiisa.

The authors were attracted to compare 252 bones of the wrists of modern people from all over the Earth, including persons suffering from various skeletal development violations; 117 chimpanzee bones, 116 gorillah, 40 orangutanyih, 19 baviages, four bones of Upper-Paleolithic Sapirens, 13 bones of Neanderthal, Three bones of Australopithecus and one bone of Habina. In addition, they used extensive literary data on various anomalies in the structure of the wrist, which are found in modern people. Scientists concluded that primitive features observed at the Hobbit LB1 cannot be the result of well-known diseases or developmental abnormalities. In their opinion, progressive features in the structure of the wrist characteristic of a modern person appeared between 0.8 and 1.8 million years ago in an evolutionary line, including Sapires, Neanderthal and their common ancestor. As for the "Hobbits", they originated from some more primitive hominids, who have these signs still in the original, "monkey" condition, like Australopiteks and Habiisa.

Skeleton brushes. The wrist bones, preserved at the "Hobbit" (from left to right: Pondeye, trapezoidal, gully).

Unfortunately, the dice of the wrist Homo Erectus. - The probable ancestor of the "Hobbits" - not yet found.

Another portion of the "optimistic" arguments appeared in 2009. Study of the endochana (brainstorming) of a single skull Homo floresiensis It showed that, although the size of the brain at the Hobbit was the same as in chimpanzees, its structure has undergone substantial reorganization. In particular, the size and form of some bark departments associated with the "highest" mental functions have changed. This is not monkey brain, but not the brain of a modern man suffering from microcephalia. The detected features help to understand how "Hobbits" was able to have a fairly high culture with such a small brain, in particular, to produce stone tools ( Falk et al., 2009). Archaeological data also suggests that those who arrived at Flores about 12 thousand years ago, modern people may have adopted some techniques of stone processing in aborigines - "Hobbits" (the age of the bones of the Hobbits, according to the latest data, ranges from 95 to 12 thousand years. Most likely, the "Hobbits" lived to the arrival of Sapires) ( Moore et al., 2009).

Important facts that shed light on the origin and related links of "Hobbits" were obtained during the study of the LB1 foot ( Jungers et al., 2009). According to some signs of the stop "Hobbit" reminds human: the thumb is adjacent to the rest (and not opposed to them, like chimpanzees); The upper part of the arch is strengthened, which makes it possible to effectively repel when walking; The bones are plusing are also similar to human signs. But in other respects, the stop "Hobbit" is very different from our. First of all, it is too big for a person of such growth. According to the relative size of the foot "Hobbit" corresponds to chimpanzees and Australopithekam, but not to scapins. The primitive features also include very long fingers, except for the large, which, on the contrary, is shortened (this also brings the "Hobbits" not with scapites, but with early hominids). The "Hobbit" stop is well adapted for walking on two legs, but it is bad for rapid running. For example, its arch does not have a special spring mechanism characteristic of Homo Sapiens.. Long fingers could be comfortable at a measured step, but would be a hindrance when running.

Founds found in Kenya traces Homo Erectus.whose age is 1.43 million years (see above), show that by that time our ancestors already had a completely modern gait and the structure of the foot. Consequently, the evolutionary pathways of the ancestors of the "Hobbits" and modern people diverged, most likely, earlier than this date (if only a primitive stop did not develop in the hobbits secondary).

Until now, the most likely ancestors of the "Hobbits" were considered erectors, which were supposedly penetrated on Flores 800-900 thousand years ago and gradually crushed, turning into the conditions of island insulation into a special dwarf view of people. New data suggests another version, which also expressed, but was less likely to be the origin of the "hobbits" from more primitive hominids close to Australopithekam or Habixam. This version, by the way, is better consistent with the small size of the brain of the Hobbits. The patterns of changing the relative sizes of the brain and the body during the evolution of mammals, including primates, well studied. Based on these patterns, it can be concluded that the dwarfs of meter growth that occurred from the scapiens would have to have a brain of about 1100 cm 3, from erectures - about 500-650 cm 3. But the volume of the brain at the LB1 is only 400 cm 3, so that in this respect the Habius and Australopitets are better suited for the role of the ancestors of "Hobbits" than erectures or the more modern people.

The problem, however, is that neither Australopita nor Habi will never be outside their native African continent - at least no facts indicating such an opportunity have not yet been detected. To get to the distant Flores, primitive African hominids would have to do a huge way, including such landscapes, to which they could hardly manage to adapt. How did the ancestors of the "Hobbits" fell to Flores?

In principle, the ancestors of the "Hobbits" could be the early representatives of the human race, intermediate between habilis and typical erectors. It was at this stage of development, about 1.77 million years ago, people first went beyond the limits of their native African continent, as evidenced by the finds in Dmanisi. But the volume of the brain in people from Dmanisi was equal to 600-650 cm 3 with a weight of about 40 kg ("Hobbits" weighed about 30 kg). Calculations conducted on the basis of the above-mentioned patterns show that people from Dmanisi still were too "brainitis" to qualify for the role of the ancestors of the Hobbits.

Solving this problem unexpectedly helped ... Hippo. True, not modern, and fossil dwarf hypopotams, even relatively recently (thousand years ago) who lived on Madagascar Island. In the conditions of island isolation of the hippopotam, like the ancestors of the "Hobbits" and many other mammals, which turned out to be fine. At the same time, the volume of their brain, as it turned out, decreased faster than he was "supposed" in accordance with the regularities established earlier. Within one species in mammals, the brain volume usually changes in proportion to the volume of the body, erected into a degree of 0.25 or less; For groups of nearby species, this indicator ranges from 0.2 to 0.4. In other words, the volume of the body usually changes much faster than the brain volume. therefore relative The size of the brain in dwarf forms is usually more than large. However, in the event of a rapid decrease in body size in the conditions of island isolation, this indicator, as it turned out, can approach 0.5. This means that island dweller can lead to an abnormally rapid decrease in the brain ( Weston, Lister, 2009). If you extrapolate this pattern on people from Dmanisi and "Hobbits", it turns out that the first could well be the ancestors of the second. The decrease in the brain has occurred comparable to what was observed in Madagascar hippo.

The time of existence and the estimated related links of fossil hominids. Vertical axis - time via years ago. Solid arrows show more or less accurate related relationships, dotted - hypothetical. Two possible options for origin are shown. Homo floresiensis - From early erectures and from Habiisa. In drawing out Lieberman, 2009.

Under the pressure of new facts, many experts still doubted that the "hobbits" are a special kind of people, and not a degenerated dwarf tribe of Sapirens, revise their views. Among them - Daniel Lieberman from Harvard University. According to Lieberman, the most likely ancestors of the "Hobbits" today should be considered early erectures close to people from Dmanisi, however, and habilis cannot be discounted. It is possible that the early representatives of the human race (habises, early erectures and the like) were much more diverse, and their distribution area is much wider than this we know today ( Lieberman, 2009.).

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Being bending over a table for picnics, the Indonesian researcher carefully moves the bones in search of a possible attenuation of man's origin. Here, on the remote Island Flores, the international team of archaeologists is trying to shed light on the remains of the skeleton of a dwarf cave woman, whose age is 18 thousand years old. They were discovered here in 2003, and this discovery immediately became a sensation around the world. His scientific name is a Floresian man (Homo Floresiensis), the nickname - "Hobbit", and the hunt for him began to prove that this woman and dozens of others are not just a fad of nature, but members of a remote person.

"Here they were separated by animals," Rokus researcher Rokus Dew oh, studying the robe of the rat with a toothpicks, probably left after the hobbit fellow. For him, the workers carry out buckets of soil from the cave in the form of a cathedral, decorated with stalactites by 40 meters under the ground. The opening of the Floresian man shocked scientists and divided their opinions. Obviously, a group of distant relatives of a person lived here, who developed habits, unprecedented millions of years, but they lived at the same time as more modern people. For almost one night, this discovery can change our understanding of the entire evolution of man.

(Total 13 photos)

1. Archaeologists conduct excavations in the cave in Liang Bois, Indonesia, September 12, 2009, where in 2003 a skeleton of a dwarf cave woman was discovered. There is a version that this man Floresky and dozens of his relatives, called "Hobbits", are a new kind of hominid. (AP / Achmad iBrahim)

2. Worker leads excavations in the cave LIANG BUE September 14, 2009, where the remains of a person in Rutheng were found, Flores Island, Indonesia. (AP / Achmad iBrahim)

3. Workers work on the site of excavations in the cave LIANG BU. (AP / Achmad iBrahim)

4. Workers lead excavations in the cave Liang Bois, where the remains of a caveman were found in 2003. (AP / Achmad iBrahim)

5. Australian archaeologist Mike Morwood works in the cave LIANG BU. (AP / Achmad iBrahim)

6. Workers on the site of excavations in Ruthenge ,. (AP / Achmad iBrahim)

7. With low growth (1 m) and small brain (400 cc. - three times less than the volume of the brain of a modern person), this kind of hominid was capable of treating stone guns. (AP / Achmad iBrahim)

8. The Indonesian archaeologist Yatmico examines the fragment of the prehistoric stone in the cave LIANG BUA on September 14, 2009. (AP / Achmad iBrahim)

9. Because of the small sizes of the brain of the found remains, scientists immediately arose the question of how a person with such sizes could produce complex tools of labor. (AP / Achmad iBrahim)

10. According to one of the versions, this is not a separate type of person, but a modern person (Homo Sapiens), which suffered from microcephalus. This was pointed to the small sizes of the brain, the double root of the incisors and fangs and cut chin. (AP / Achmad iBrahim)

11. Scientists - supporters of the hypothesis of a separate species - argued that the "Hobbit" was a subspecies of a person of his profier and was subject to a decrease in the size due to long-term isolation on the island. (AP / Achmad iBrahim)

12. Victor Jehubut (second left) with an increase in only 1.22 meters. This 80-year-old old man's guides are often called the "descendant of a man of Flores" - dwarf cave people who lived on the island of Flores 160,000 years ago. Jehubut says that these rumors are not true, in fact, the disease affected his growth in childhood. (AP / Achmad iBrahim)

13. On the left: the researcher holds a Floresian skull in Indonesia. Right: Skeleton of a Floresian man, discovered in the cave LIANG BU in Rutheng, Flores Island, Indonesia.

Evolution of man. Book 1. Monkeys, bones and genes Markov Alexander Vladimirovich

"Hobbits" from Flores Island

In October 2004 in the journal Nature. A description of an unknown earlier type of fossil people was published - Homo floresiensiswho lived on Flores Island (Indonesia) is less than 20 thousand years ago (that is, quite recently, when Neanderthals have already been extinct, and Sapirens spread widely in the old way). Nakhodka was made in the cave Lang Boua. These strange people nicknamed by hobbits for little growth (no more than a meter) had a tiny brain (about 400 cm 3, about as in chimpanzees or even slightly less) and at the same time quite perfect stone implements were made. The authors of the unique find indicated the similarities of "Hobbits" with Homo Erectus.. In their opinion, "Hobbits" are most likely grinding descendants of erectors who settled on the island more than 800 thousand years ago (judging by the tools of the guns). This view of many experts from the very beginning appeared the most reasonable.

However, other interpretations were also offered. Some authors allowed that Homo floresiensis It happened not from erectors, but from more archaic hominid - Australopitets, the remains of which are still known only from Africa. Others generally argued that the "Hobbit" was simply an unusually ugly representative H. Sapiens.suffering from microcephalus in severe form.

A stormy discussion unfolded around the "Hobbits". I will tell you about it in more detail that readers can get a general idea of \u200b\u200bhow paleontropologists solve controversial issues in the absence of direct evidence.

In April 2006, the Paleoanthropological Society meeting was held in Puerto Rico, at which several important reports were made ( Culotta, 2006.). Susan Lapson from New York University of New York reported on new anatomical details of the skeleton structure H. floresiensisconfirming the initial version of the origin of this type of H. Erectus..

The shoulder bone of the "Hobbit", as it turned out, is significantly different from our. If our brachial head is rotated relative to the elbow joint at 145-165 degrees, thanks to which our elbows are directed back and it is convenient for us to work with your hands in front of it in the standing position, then the "Hobbit" shoulder head turns only 110 degrees. This feature itself could make it difficult to implement instrument activities. H. floresiensisHowever, it compensates somewhat different than we, the shape and orientation of the blade. Apparently, the "hobbits" could work with their hands as efficiently as modern people, but the convenient position of the hands was achieved somewhat in a different way, and "Hobbits" during the work had to hurt a little. But throwing items over long distances they most likely could not.

Larson also studied the skeletons of other fossil hominids and found that at the only more or less complete skeleton H. Erectus.found in Kenya, shoulder bone arranged just like H. floresiensis. Previously, they did not pay attention. Larson came to the conclusion that the transformation of the shoulder on the way from the first hominid to the modern person was held in two stages, and the "Hobbit" and Erectus correspond to the first of them.

In another report at the same meeting, William Dzhangers, Colleague Larson on the university, spoke about the results of the reconstruction of the Hobbit pelvis. Although in the early publications, the similarity of pelvic bones has been reported H. floresiensis with such Australopiteks, Dzhangers discovered a number of advanced signs, which confirms the version of the origin of the "Hobbits" from H. Erectus..

The authors of the sensational find believed that the skeleton found by them belonged to the individual of the female, but afterwards some experts doubted it. Dzhangers said that the bones of the limbs of other individuals found next to the first skeleton are noticeably smaller in size. This suggests that, perhaps, this species had sexual dimorphism (men were larger than women). It is possible that the skeleton belonged to a man, and individual bones of the limbs - women.

Jungers also said that among the bones found, there is a well-preserved foot, which has not yet been properly investigated. Its pays attention to its large size: it is possible that the "Hobbits" from the island of Flores, as well as the heroes of Roman Tolkina, were the owners of impressive hairy feet.

In general, as the "Hobbits" study, the positions of skeptics are becoming more and more row. However, some of them continue to persist. For example, Paleoanthropologist Robert Martin and his colleagues believe that the "Hobbit" brain is too small in order to belong to a full-fledged hominide of such sizes ( Martin et al., 2006). "I'm not 100% sure that this is a microcephaly," says Martin. "I just argue that his brain is still too small."

The highest argument against the "microcephalus" version is that in addition to the original skeleton in the Lang Bou Cave on the island of Flores, the remains of several other individuals are clearly found. According to the fair remark of Dzhangers, Martin actually insists that the whole village of Idiotov-microcephalov existed on the island. True, the cranial box has been preserved only from one copy (LB1), but there are lower jaws, the structure of which makes it possible to assume that the other inhabitants of the Lang Bau Brain was not larger than LB1.

Homo floresiensis . Flores Island (Indonesia), 95-12 thousand years ago.

It is curious that after the opening of Neanderthals, some scientists tried to prove that the bones found are not a special kind of ancient people, but to people of modern type, suffering from oligofrenia. It seems that the situation is repeated, and the outcome of the discussion seems to be not in favor of skeptics again.

Shortly after the publication of Martin's comment and his colleagues, a large international group of archaeologists reported a new weight argument in favor of Homo floresiensis - not a microcephal, not a pigment and not hallucination, but a special dwarf view of a person.

Together with the bones of nine individuals Homo floresiensis In the cave Lang Boua, the discovers found numerous stone implements. Skeptics argued that these guns are too perfect to make them a creature with a brain volume of 400 cm 3, and that in fact it is the products of Sapires - modern people.

Ancient skeletal residues Homo Sapiens.Flores found 11.5 thousand years old - they are a little younger than the youngest bones of "Hobbits". Together with the bones of Sapires, much more perfect tools with polished blades were found, as well as beads and other artifacts, testifying to a fundamentally different (upper-paralyolithic) level of culture.

In addition to the comparatively primitive tools of "Hobbits" and exquisite upperopelyolithic products of modern-type people on the island, very ancient guns were found, belonging to seem to be representatives of the species Homo Erectus.who settled the island over 800 thousand years ago. The bones of the erectors themselves have not yet been found. If the right of skeptics, considering "hobbits" by the ugly people of modern type, then the guns found along with the "Hobbits" should differ much from the products of erectors. If the right of the discovers of "Hobbits", then Homo floresiensis - Straight descendants of the echetus island populated, and their guns should be similar to each other and sharply differ from products. H. Sapiens.. The study conducted by a group of scientists from Australia, Indonesia and the Netherlands, confirmed the second version ( Brumm et al., 2006).

For the first time, ancient guns (in the number of tens) were found in 1994 50 km east of the Cave of Lang Boua. In 2004-2005, archaeologists in the course of intensive excavations in the area were produced about 500 artifacts. In Lang Boua, 3264 stone artifacts found together with the bones of the Hobbits.

Skull "Hobbit". Photo from Brown et al., 2004.

Ancient tools occur from the layer of lake-river deposits, which in some places is limited from above and at the bottom with volcanic interlaced, which makes it possible to determine the age of artifacts with great accuracy. The lower volcanic property has an age of 880 ± 70, the upper - 800 ± 70 thousand years. The guns, therefore, were made between these dates.

The Stone Industry of the Islands of the island was quite primitive - it's not far from Olduva. Most of the artifacts are made from low-quality material - pebbles of volcanic origin, which was selected right on the spot, but products from a higher quality fine-grained siliceous limestone (27 artifacts) and chalcedone are also included. Material for these products, apparently, was brought from afar.

The technology was to chop outchipped from the kernel. To do this, they simply pounded one pebbles each other or used as a hammer spent kernel. The dedups were mostly small and medium in size. Most of the "products" threw at the place of manufacture and never used. Some (mostly large) depregs were subjected to additional processing - retouching. For example, the edge of the tag could be pointed by choking smaller depths from him. Five guns were processed especially carefully - they chose small pieces from them until they received a certain semblance of a pointer, which could be used, for example, for piercing holes in the skins.

The stone industry of the first-settlement of the island turned out to be very similar to products H. floresiensis According to the main qualitative and quantitative parameters. Pickers found among the ancient guns resemble similar tools from Lang Boua, and the exhaust kernels of two locations in many cases are practically indistinguishable. Perhaps the only significant difference between the two sets of stone inventory is that among the findings from Lang Boua there are 12 artifacts that have reached under the influence of fire, and among the ancient tools it is not observed.

These results confirm the origin hypothesis H. floresiensis From erectors, populated about 800 thousand years ago or earlier. For hundreds of thousands of years of peaceful life on the island among exotic dwarf elephants - wages, giant rats and Varanov islanders crushed, and their technological development almost completely stopped. The appearance on Flores people of a modern type - the inclined urgent-ololytic hunters with a highly developed stone industry - originated a small backward population on the inevitable death. However, judging by the legends of small forest people, among the modern islanders, the last "hobbits" may have extinct only a few centuries ago.

The discussion on this was not completed. Soon in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Another article of skeptics appeared ( Jacob et al., 2006), in which the following arguments were considered.

1. Chief distinguishing feature H. floresiensis - small brain volume (about 400 cm 3). However, the skull was found only one; The bones of other individuals do not give good reason to argue that they also had a small brain.

2. Stone guns found along with the bones of "Hobbits" differ in great complexity. In particular, small blades were found, the former parts of the composite guns. Such technologies owned only modern people. The similarity of the "Hobbit" guns with the ancient products found on the island of erectors, according to the authors, I wakes very treble.

3. To make a new kind of people on the island, complete isolation is necessary. However, there are no good reason to assert that the archangets penetrated the island only once and there were no contacts between the inhabitants of Flores and other human populations. About dwarf elephants - it is known that they penetrated Flores at least twice. And if contacts between islanders and other people persisted, how can it be argued that the islanders really were a separate view? People, apparently, could repeatedly penetrate the Flores during the glacial maxima, when the sea level fell and the straits between the Islands of the Malay archipelago were narrowed or disappeared at all.

4. Flores Island is too small that the isolated population of gathet hunters could exist on it for 40 thousand generations. The area of \u200b\u200bthe island (14,200 km 2), according to the available estimates, is sufficient for existence only 570-5700 primitive people, whereas, according to other estimates, the population of large vertebrates must read at least 5816-7316 adults so that she has a real chance Reliable 40 thousand generations.

5. The dwarfship itself can not serve as an argument in favor of the allocation of "Hobbits" in a special form, since such variations of the size are widespread in many mammals, including a person. For example, African pigments are not at all a separate species, and genetically they are not isolated from neighboring tribes.

6. None of the morphological signs of the sole skull of the "Hobbit" and both lower jaws do not go beyond the individual variability characteristic of modern residents of Melanesia and Australia. Even those signs that were particularly marked as "not found among modern people" (for example, some features of the cultivation of the drum bone) are actually found among Australia's aborigines and recently extinct Tasmanians. The absence of the "Hobbits" of the chores also does not say anything about anything, because Rampasas's Pygmeni, living near the Cave of Lang Bou and the articles specially studied by the authors, this sign occurs very often (see photos on p. 192).

Skeleton brushes. The wrist bones, preserved at the "Hobbit" (from left to right: Pondeye, trapezoidal, gully).

Unfortunately, the dice of the wrist Homo Erectus. - The probable ancestor of the "Hobbits" - not yet found.

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