Homo floresiensis, nicknamed 'hobbit' because it only stood about 1 meter tall, is an extinct species of fossil human that lived on the island of Flores, Indonesia during the Pleistocene. Floresiensis is still shrouded in a fair bit of mystery. First excavated at Liang Bua Cave in 2003 CE, these humans were originally thought to have lived between c. 74,000- c. 12,000 years ago, which would have made them the last surviving humans besides our own species of Homo sapiens. Recent evidence suggests, however, that these humans were actually quite a bit more ancient: their bones now come in at between around 100,000 and 60,000 years ago, and the tools found alongside them range between c. 190,000-c. 50,000 years old. There are a lot of things we do not know about Homo floresiensis as of yet, including the species' exact ancestry, which is still riddled with holes.
More about: Homo FloresiensisDefinition
Timeline
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c. 2600000 BCE - c. 12000 BCEThe Pleistocene epoch, ranging from c. 2,6 million years ago until c. 12,000 years ago. It is characterised by repeated cycles of glacials and interglacials.
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c. 2600000 BCE - c. 12000 BCEThe Palaeolithic (or Old Stone Age) period, ranging from c. 2,6 million years ago until c. 12,000 years ago.
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c. 100000 BCE - c. 60000 BCERecently determined age of the Homo floresiensis specimens.
