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Flores

Flores is an island within present-day Indonesia that is separated from nearby Lombok by a permanent deep water strait. Evidence of hominins on Flores occurs as early as 1 million years ago, evidence that these ancient hominins rafted across these straits.

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An possible ancestor of Homo floresiensis from the Middle Pleistocene of Flores

Gerrit van den Bergh and coworkers describe dental remains and a jaw from Mata Menge, 700,000 years ago.

Images of teeth in multiple views, with arrows pointing into a jaw to show the tooth positions
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A revised chronology for Liang Bua places Homo floresiensis earlier than 60,000 years ago

Further study of the “hobbit” site shows that the stratigraphy was more complicated than assumed back in 2004, with skeletal remains much earlier than originally published.

Liang Bua cave with archaeologists pictured at center and excavation areas visible.
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The Homo floresiensis discovery, an initial FAQ

I answer questions about whether the small hominin is a dwarfed descendant of Homo erectus or something else.

Cast of Homo floresiensis skeleton