Homo floresiensis: Early Human ‘Hobbit’

The Ancients

History Hit

History

4.7 • 4.5K Ratings

🗓️ 24 August 2023

⏱️ 41 minutes

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Summary

An extinct species of archaic human, Homo floresiensis has been discovered solely in one, very specific location - the Indonesian island of Flores. Nicknamed 'the hobbit' due to its diminutive stature (and discovery coinciding with a certain film franchise), this hominid is something of an enigma in the story of human evolution. Both amazing and confusing experts in equal measure since it's discovery more than a decade ago - have we been able to learn anything new in recent years?

In this episode Tristan is joined by leading paleoanthropologist Dr Adam Brumm from Griffith University in Australia. Looking at how Homo floresiensis came to be so much smaller than it's ancestors, their role in human evolution, and Adam's own experiences excavating in the wilds - how has their discovery challenged our understanding of our own shared past, and what can we expect to find next?

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Transcript

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0:00.0	If you're enjoying all the content in this episode and the rest of the ancient series,
0:03.8	then why not join me on a trip uncovering Pompeii and Herculaneum alongside the legendary
0:09.2	archaeologist Dr. Sophie Hay. You'll get exclusive access to the Vesuvian sites,
0:14.3	a Plontis and the Bay of Naples. To book now or find out more about this
0:18.8	and other historical trips, just go to History Hit.com
0:22.3	forward slash trips. It's the ancients on history hit. I'm Tristan Hughes your host and in today's
0:40.5	episode well we're going back to human origins.
0:44.0	We're talking about another archaic human.
0:47.2	We've done Homo Naledi.
0:48.6	We've covered Australopithecus recently, but also homororectus, neandotals. Now we're talking about an extraordinary
0:57.8	hominin that has been discovered solely on one specific Indonesian island, the island of Flores.
1:08.0	It's been dubbed Homo Floresiensis, and what's so striking about it is that it almost seems to be this dwarf species of
1:16.2	human is incredibly small so much so that it's been nicknamed the Hobbit. And yet, despite its small size, it was actually living
1:27.2	on this Indonesian island quite late in the story of human evolution within the last 1 million years.
1:34.5	It is a big enigma. It has amazed but also confused.
1:40.5	Many paleoanthropologists since its discovery more than a decade ago.
1:46.6	Now to talk through what we know about homophanesiansis, the latest research and what the current
1:52.2	state of research is.
1:53.7	Well I was delighted to get back on the podcast after a long break,
1:58.8	none other, than Dr. Adam Brum from Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia. Now if you remember Adam, then hats off to you because he came on the
2:09.4	podcast very early on in the days of the ancients to talk about a striking discovery of cave art.
2:16.3	45,000 years old discovered in a cave on the Indonesian island of Siluesi,
	...

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