Scientists have found that the remains found in Indonesia on the island of Flores provide evidence that the ancestor of the Floresian man, or "hobbit," as he was nicknamed for his small stature, is Homo erectus. An article about this appeared in the journal Nature.
The Liang Bua Cave on Flores Island was first discovered as an archaeological site in 1950, but only in 2003 was the first sensational find made there. Since that time, the debate of scientists has not stopped: some believe that there is nothing valuable in the finds: the "new" species are just people of the modern type, suffering from some kind of disease such as Down's syndrome. Others are convinced that ancient dwarfs are a distinct species of Homo erectus.
According to paleoanthropologist Yusuke Kaifu of the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo, whose team led by Gert Van der Berg of the University of Wollongong in Australia discovered new fossils in 2014 in the dried-up Soa River basin, 70 kilometers east of Liang Bua Cave. the find suggests that the "hobbits" evolved from the species H. erectus. Archaeologist Adam Bramm of the University of Wollongong is of the same opinion.
Archaeologists note that based on the size and shape of the bones, it can be assumed that the "hobbits" from Liang Bua cave are dwarf descendants of Homo erectus.
