The 2000s were booming years for paleoanthropologists. If "Lucy" (1974) remained for nearly 25 years the "grandmother of humanity", the discoveries in 2000 of Orrorin, dating back to 6 million years BC, then of Toumaï in 2001, who himself lived around 7 million years before our era, upset scientific knowledge concerning the first hominids, the origins of modern man.
2003
Characters
Peter Brown
Michael Morwood
Radien Soenjono
Yousuke Kaifu
Procedure
Located east of Java in the direction of Timor, on the island of Flores, in Indonesia, an archaeological expedition is led by Michael Morwood and Radien Soenjono who have been excavating the site since 2001. By dint of perseverance, they make a major discovery in September 2003 (but only unveiled in 2004 by Peter Brown). Indeed, in a cave of Liang Bua, skeletal remains are updated:Homo Floresiensis! This hominid would have lived on the island between -95,000 and -50,000. Nicknamed the "Hobbit" because of his small size, he would measure about 1 meter and weigh 25 kg. But his skull would be abnormally smaller, contrary to the curve of the evolution of the genus Homo. Consequently, several theories confront each other. Some scientists believe that Flores Man is descended from Homo habilis or small Australopithecines, but no trace of them has ever been found in this part of the world. Others argue that its ancestry would be from Homo erectus and explain its small size by a morphological adaptation to the hostile geographical environment and limited food resources. Others finally lean towards a descendant of Homo sapiens but who, according to his morphology, would have been suffering from a genetic disease such as trisomy or microcephaly.
But this island was far from having delivered all its treasures! Indeed in 2014, Yousuke Kaifu announced that he, with his team, discovered an incomplete jaw and 6 teeth which would date from around 700,000 years ago, in this same cave! At that time, Homo sapiens did not yet exist, and the teeth found betray an ancestry with the morphology of Homo erectus. Thus, this hominid would have been a victim of "insular dwarfism" due to its geographical isolation and limited food resources, which is confirmed by the skeletons of herbivores also found on site.
Consequences
The smallest hominid of the homo genus, a descendant of homo erectus, this man from Flores is therefore our distant cousin. His discovery induces that the human race would be more malleable than we would have thought. Indeed, its size adapted relatively quickly to its local environment, shortly after its arrival. The process of its morphology would have been considerably accelerated, a modification absolutely necessary for its survival, confirming Foster's law. One question remains:how did these men manage to arrive on this island, when they did not have the necessary knowledge? Some researchers put forward the hypothesis of a tsunami, some of whom would have survived... The mystery still remains today.