Human hobbits 'a myth'
Wednesday, 27 Aug 2008 00:01
Hobbits: The domain of The Lord of the Rings, not Palau
American researchers have poured water on claims the Pacific island of Palau was once home to a species of hobbit-sized humans.
In a study that contradicts previous research, North Carolina State University says the earliest settlers of the tiny island chain and their descendants were normally-proportioned.
The study reflects both new and previously collected data from a Palau burial site worked at since 2000 called Chelechol ra Orrak – that indicates early Palauans were of normal size and that their physical characteristics are well within the variation seen in modern human populations.
But the research team, led by Dr Scott Fitzpatrick, claim their findings do not disprove the discovery of dwarf-sized human remains on the Indonesian island of Flores – Homo floresiensis.
Flores was colonised must earlier than Palau – hundreds of thousands of years ago compared to up to 2,000 BCE.
"If a group of small-bodied humans was to evolve in an island environment, it would likely require the population to be isolated for tens of thousands of years – which was not the case in Palau," Dr Fitzpatrick said.
Palau – 800km east of the Philippines and 3,200km south of Japan – is one of the world's youngest, smallest and most isolated nations, with a population of just 20,000.