A New Human - Story of the "Hobbits" of Flores, Indonesia

In the Middle of 2010, during lunch together with friends in Nusa Dua, my England friend told me he had an interesting book. This book is is a story about exploration by a team from Australia, England, Indonesia etc. that discover a new human species in Flores, Indonesia. It's very interesting for me. Soon I read this book, this is the brief story inside it.In 2004 there was publication for exploration discovery of a new human species "Homo Floresiensis" in Liang Bua.

Liang Bua is a huge cave with dimension around 50 x 100 m2 with the height 50 metre. The Cave is located at Flores Island, Indonesia.

The team from "ARKENAS" cooperate with the researchers team from Australia, England and other countries discovered fosils from a new human species they called "Hobbit" from Flores Island.
 

  It's 1 (one) metre tall with brain volume around 380 cc. A normal

human has brain volume around 1000 up to 1500 cc.After examining the fossils with many methods such carbon, magnetic, fusion, geology, etc. the team found out the age of the fossils is 840.000

years. This was the second biggest discoveries after water discovery in Mars planet. Unfortunately the publication in Indonesia was not big enough. Even

National Geographic &Discovery Channel already made the film of the exploration discovery.

 If you want to know more details about the discovery, please read the book with title : A New Human, The Startling Discovery and Strange Story of the "Hobbit" of Flores, Indonesia. The writer was the team leader of the scientists. The name is Mike Morwood.

This book is available in English version, the Bahasa Indonesia version is not available yet. It's concerned as one of Smithsonian Books".He excavated "Liang Bua" and found artifacts in the same deposits as Stegodon fossils.

The team were following the steps of Father Theodor Verhoeven. He was a missionary there. He used "Liang Bua" as a teaching room. Everyday he teachs and educates the native children there in 1963.

It's amazing that he can estimate the age of the fossils using old technique but could conluded that the age of the fossils was 800.000 years ago.

But that time the archeological establishment refused to accept his findings or conclusion.

If we checked the Bible, from Adam to Abraham is around 2000 years. From Abraham to Jesus is around 2000 years. From Jesus until today is 2011 years. So totally from the first human until today is around 6000 years. Our ancestor has a very big gap with the fossils of the human from Flores Island which is 840.000 years old.

In the book page 187, I read a sentence below :
"The discovery also generated all sorts of interpretations of philosophical, biological, anthropological and archaelogical issues. Prominent anthropologist and author Desmond Morris, presumably an atheist, claimed that "the discovery of a human 'hobbit' on Flores would force many religions to

examine their basic beliefs."

Press Conference

There was also a press conference in Jakarta on March 28, 2004 to mark the first Indonesian edition of National Geographic, to come out in April. By happy chance, the cover story for 10 million copies of the magazine produced in nearly 30 different editions around the world just happened to be an Indonesian story --- the finding of Homo floresiensis and its implication --- with an article by Thomas Sutikna, Bert Roberts and Mike Morwood.

The Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, senior people from the National Geographic Society in Washington and Asia, members of the press, researchers from ARKENAS and about 200 dignitaries attented the launch. It began at 7 p.m. at the Gedung Arsip Nasional with a children's choir, musicians, a banquet dinner and an archeological display organized by ARKENAS.

The display featured the LB1 lower jaw;skull and arm bones;the second, damaged lower jaw;a range of stone artifacts and animal bones; and in pride of place there was an anatomically accurate, lifelike model of the head of Hobbit.

Speeches were made emphasizing the importance of the new Indonesian magazine for promoting education, conservation and research---during which Terrance Adamson, the executive vice president of National Geographic, described Homo floresiensis as "the most astounding finding in world paleoanthropology in the last 50 years." After also speaking, President Yudhoyono signed a large poster of the first cover of the Indonesian version of the magazine featuring the depiction of a wild-eyed LB1, and was then presented with a framed photograph of the same. On the way out, President Yudhoyono and a large entourage visited the display to see LB1, guided by Thomas Sutikna, Rokus Awe Due and Harry Widianto. It was a great night for Indonesian archaeology.

Sponsor :

Australian Research Council, the University of New England & the University of Wollongong dan National Geographic Society. Prof. Michael Macklin (UNE Dean of Arts) & Dr. John Francis (National Geographic) helped greatly in obtaining additional financial backing. Craig Robinson of Melbourne made a private donation.

Associated fieldwork was undertaken in collaboration with two Indonesian counterpart organizations. The team leader thank to Dr. Haris Sukendar, Dr. Tony Djubiantono & Prof. Raden Pandji Soejono of the National Research Centre for Archeology (ARKENAS);and Mr. Bambang Dwiyanto, Dr. Djadjang Sukarna, Mr. Didik Kosasih & Dr. Fachroel Aziz of the Geological Research and Development Centre in Bandung.
Collegues contributor to the project :Abraham Gampar, Adam Brumm, Bert Roberts, Bill Jungers, Carol Lentfer, Chris Turney, Doug Hobbs, Gert van den Bergh, Harry Truman Simanjuntak, Iwan Kurniawan, Jack Rink, Jacqueline Collins, Jatmiko, Jian Xin Zhao, Jose Abrantes, Kerrie Grant, Kira Westaway, Mangatas Situmorang, Mark Moore, Michael Bird, Netty Polhaupessy, Paul O'Sullivan, Peter Brown, Rokus Awe Due, Sri Wasisto, Suminto, Susan G. Larson, Thomas Sutikna, Tular Sudarmadi, Victoria Paine, Wahyu Saptomo & Yani Yuiawati.
The team leader also acknowledge the generous support of local authorities, particularly staff from the Manggarai, West Manggarai, Ngadha & Nusa Tenggara Timur administrations, as well as local participants in the surveys and excavations, including Agus Mangga, Alex Gadhu, Andras Mali, Ansel Musa Ganda, Benyamin Tarus, Dius Nggaa, Domi Ben, Domi Deo, Ferri Bali, Flori Bali, Gaba Gaur, Ginus Denga, Kornelius Podha, Kristo Fores, Minggus Siga, the late Musa Bali, Petrus Mangar, Pit Ludu, Rikus Bandar, Rius Laru, Sius Sambut & Willem Lewa Nau.

Extensive editorial changes to previous drafts by Penny Jordan, Gert van den Bergh, Kathy Morwood, Mark Moore, Tim Whiting, Catherine Hill & Sara Foster (Random House) & Thomas Kelleher (Smithsonian) helped pull the book together, while Bert Robers, Colin Groves, Dean Falk, Doug Hobbs, Fachroel Azis, Iain Davidson, John de Vos & Thomas Sutikna checked sections.

Penny van Oosterzee, the co writer would like to offer special thanks to a number of people for help with key insights into the sections on biogeography and sea currents. These include Robert Hall at the Royal Holloway Institute, London, for new information on plate tectonics and currents during glacial periods;Lars van den Hoeke Ostende from the National Museum of National History, Leiden, for his expertise on rodents and their origin, for directing her to Antoni Alcover from the Institut Mediterrani d'Estudis Avancats, Mallorca, and for the pivotal information on the Balearic Islands and the sea currents surrounding them. Finally, Lawrence Heaney from the Field Museum, Chicago, enthusiastically provided valuable information on island biogeography, generally, and that relating to the Philippines in particular.