# Very Short Hominids in Indonesia (merged threads)



## Barliman Butterbur (Oct 27, 2004)

Scientists Discover Ancient 'Little People'

By Guy Gugliotta
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 28, 2004; 1:33 PM

Scientists have discovered a tiny species of ancient human that lived 18,000 years ago on an isolated island east of the Java Sea -- a prehistoric hunter in a "lost world" of giant lizards and miniature elephants.

These "little people" stood about three feet tall and had heads the size of grapefruit. They co-existed with modern humans for thousands of years yet appear to be more closely akin to a long-extinct human ancestor. 

Full details at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2141-2004Oct27.html

Barley


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## Astaldo (Oct 27, 2004)

*Re: Scientists discover "Hobbit remains?"*

Now we have to find Orcs, Trolls etc.


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## Gothmog (Oct 27, 2004)

*Re: Scientists discover "Hobbit remains?"*

And perhaps a strange part melted golden ring with odd flowing scratches on it


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## Aglarband (Oct 27, 2004)

*Hobbits were real!*

Hobbits!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Sadly they were all killed in some volcano eruption or something tho... AKA Mount Doom, but Frodo was able to cast the Ring into it before the eruption, unfourtunaly the Eagles choked and none of the Hobbits were saved. But Sauron has been defeated and we can all live happily ever after... or w/e.


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## Shireman D (Oct 28, 2004)

*Very Short Hominoids in Indonesia*

Have we all caught up with the news of the discovery of remains of very short humans in Indonesia: the remains found are of a different strand of humanity about 18ooo years old. The BBC report describes them as, "evidence of a different way of being human".

Unsurprisingly, they have been nicknamed Hobbits.

Are they the last outpost of ME? Should South Asia be looked at as the real location, after the Han people have always called China Middle Earth? No, but it is an interesting sidelight.


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## Astaldo (Oct 28, 2004)

*Re: Very Short Hominoids in Indonesia*

Can you imagine this? Maybe one day all that Prof. Tolkien wrote prove to be true.


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## Astaldo (Oct 28, 2004)

*Re: Scientists discover "Hobbit remains?"*

Do you remember the introduction od The Hobbit? "Hobbits still live between us though we cannot see them". MAube Prof. Tolkine was true.


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## joxy (Oct 28, 2004)

Well no-one can say the Forum isn't topical - two separate threads on this subject on the first day it became known!


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## Eledhwen (Oct 28, 2004)

*Re: Scientists discover "Hobbit remains?"*



Barliman Butterbur said:


> These "little people" ...had heads the size of grapefruit.


A small point, Barley, but it was their _brains_, not their heads that were grapefruit-sized. A worthy subject for discussion in the old Ivy Leaf. I reckon if they dig a bit deeper they'll find the remains of old Hildifons or Isengar Took; I always wondered where they got to, now we have a clue.

Orcs and Trolls, Astaldo? By other names, maybe!

I am fascinated that these little folk co-inhabited the world with the bigger folk. I wonder if any were employed as bar staff?


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## Barliman Butterbur (Oct 28, 2004)

*Re: Scientists discover "Hobbit remains?"*



Astaldo said:


> Do you remember the introduction od The Hobbit? "Hobbits still live between us though we cannot see them". MAube Prof. Tolkine was true.



The only thing I found even vaguely near your quote (from The Hobbit) is:

"Hobbits have no beards. There is little or no magic about them, except the ordinary everyday sort which helps them to disappear quietly and quickly when large stupid folk like you and me come blundering along, making a noise like elephants which they can hear a mile off."

"The Hobbit" indeed has no introduction, although it has a short preface about runes. I think what you might be getting at is:

"It is plain indeed that in spite of later estrangement Hobbits are relatives of ours: far nearer to us than Elves, or even than Dwarves. Of old they spoke the languages of Men, after their own fashion, and liked and disliked much the same things as Men did. But what exactly our relationship is can no longer be discovered." (From FOTR)

Barley

PS: And to whomever it was who changed the title of this thread: The correct spelling is "hominids."


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## Gothmog (Oct 28, 2004)

*Re: Very Short Hominids in Indonesia*

The title of the thread was not changed. Two threads on the same subject were merged. So the spelling was not due to a typo by the Mod. (and no it was not me  ) But the spelling has been corrected


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## Uminya (Oct 28, 2004)

*Re: Scientists discover "Hobbit remains?"*



Astaldo said:


> Now we have to find Orcs, Trolls etc.



Neanderthals could be orcs...dinosaurs balrogs and dragons...


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## Mrs. Maggott (Oct 28, 2004)

*Re: Very Short Hominids in Indonesia*

I saw a "drawing" of what the creature looked like as far as can be determined by the remains. Unfortunately, it was _no_ hobbit! Indeed, hobbits do have hairy feet, but this guy took "hairyness" to a whole new level!


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## Astaldo (Oct 29, 2004)

*Re: Very Short Hominids in Indonesia*

Sorry Barley you right it's not the introduction it's on the first chapter. Right above where it sais that the Hobbits have no beards etc it says that: "I imagine that I have to describe them to you because in our age Hobbits can been seen rarely, and they avoid us."

It is not exactly like this but I translated as better as I could.


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## Barliman Butterbur (Oct 29, 2004)

*The Lost Human Hobbits*

Oct 28 2004

Dwarf relative found on remote jungle isle

By Nick Henegan


TOLKIEN would have been thrilled - real-life human hobbits lived happily on a remote lost world until 12,000 years ago.

In a breathtaking discovery, scientists have found the remains of a new species of ancient pygmy on an island in Indonesia.

The little fellas, around 3 to 4ft tall and with grapefruit sized brains, lived on jungle-covered Flores surrounded by giant lizards and mini elephants.Their Eden remained undisturbed while modern humans colonised the world.

It was finally wiped out by a volcanic blast.

The best preserved of a jumble of bones found in cave was a 3ft tall female.

She died 18,000 years ago and resembles the mythical hobbits made famous by author JRR Tolkien. The oldest bones are 95,000 years old.

Professor Chris Stringer, of the Natural History Museum in London, said yesterday: "This find challenges the idea of what makes us human."

Just how Flores Man - who used tools and hunted for meat in groups - hung on and whether he met modern humans is uncertain. But legends tell of hobbit-like creatures on the island long ago.

The 2003 discovery is revealed in Today's issue of the journal Nature.

Source: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnew...eadline=the-lost-human-hobbits-name_page.html

Barley


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## Uminya (Oct 29, 2004)

*Re: Very Short Hominids in Indonesia*

Perhaps that's what happened to hobbits in Middle Earth...they left the Shire and went to Indonesia...

And perhaps...the "Green Komodo Dragon" in Bywater?


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## baragund (Oct 29, 2004)

*Hobbits Are Real!!!*

Hey Gang,

Check out this article in yesterday's Washington Post.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2141-2004Oct27.html

And when you do the math relating to when they lived, it's pretty darn close to when the Third Age took place, if you assume an Age is around 3000 years and present-day society is in the Seventh Age.

Pretty neat, huh?


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## Barliman Butterbur (Oct 29, 2004)

*Re: Very Short Hominids in Indonesia*



Ciryaher said:


> Perhaps that's what happened to hobbits in Middle Earth...they left the Shire and went to Indonesia...
> 
> And perhaps...the "Green Komodo Dragon" in Bywater?



Now I hear that Balrog eggs drifted in on the tides into the Bay of Balfalas (very tough in the fiber, I deem)...

Barley


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## Barliman Butterbur (Nov 9, 2004)

*A hard hard hobbit to break...*

Many in the field crew [working on the discovery of Homo floresiensis] had become attached to the name 'hobbit', after Tolkien's pint-sized protagonists in his perennially popular novel, The Lord of the Rings. But the suggestion was anathema to others in the team. At the last minute, a compromise was attempted involving the name 'ebu gogo', the term for the small, hairy forest-dwellers of local legend. But it was hobbit that stuck.

The name hobbit does seem singularly appropriate for LB1. It was the right height, lived in a hole in the ground in an isolated part of the world, and was even chased by dragons. Really, it couldn't get any better.

And nobody can doubt that this nickname gave Homo floresiensis an instant and compelling identity. Coming hard on the heels of the spectacularly successful films of The Lord of the Rings, everyone felt an instant kinship with LB1. They could identify it with fictional characters that have been known by millions with affection since childhood and that are now household names.

Full article at: http://www.nature.com/news/2004/041108/full/041108-4.html

Barley


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## Mrs. Maggott (Nov 9, 2004)

Maybe they should have called it Homo Bilbosiensis instead?


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## baragund (Mar 4, 2005)

Here's an update on the ongoing discovery the Hobbits are *REAL!!*

...notwithstanding Hobbitqueen's presence in our community  

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4326-2005Mar3.html


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## e.Blackstar (Mar 11, 2005)

dude, we read about those in science class!


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## Hammersmith (Sep 23, 2005)

Perhaps that little hobbit fossil wasn't all it seemed?



BBC said:


> The researchers say their findings strongly support an idea that the 1m- (3ft-) tall female skeleton from Indonesia is a diseased modern human.
> 
> Their claims have been aired in a BBC Horizon programme screened on Thursday.
> 
> The Hobbit's discoverers are adamant it is an entirely separate human species, which evolved a small size in isolation on its remote island home of Flores.




_(The rest of the article in the link above)_


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