A new study suggests that Homo floresiensis, the ancient human relatives nicknamed “hobbits” for their small stature, may have been scavengers rather than skilled hunters. The research, published in Science Advances, provides evidence that these hominins used stone tools to scrape meat from the remains of Stegodon — an extinct relative of elephants — left behind by Komodo dragons.
Discovered in 2003 in the Liang Bua cave on Flores Island, Indonesia, Homo floresiensis stood about 3.3 feet (1 meter) tall and had a brain only slightly larger than a chimpanzee’s. Previous finds of stone tools and Stegodon bones alongside the fossils led researchers to believe the hobbits were advanced hunters who could make fire.
Lead author Dr. Elizabeth Grace Veatch, a paleoanthropologist at the Smithsonian Institution, wanted to test that assumption. “I wanted to see if we really could show that H. floresiensis was the hunter that it had been portrayed as for decades,” she said.
The team analyzed Stegodon bones from the cave, comparing them with experimental marks. They watched a Komodo dragon named Rinca at Zoo Atlanta feed on a goat carcass, then used 3D scanning to differentiate Komodo dragon tooth marks from human-made cut marks. The results showed that Komodo dragon tooth marks were most common on meatiest parts of the Stegodon bones, while cut marks from stone tools appeared on less choice areas — indicating the hobbits scavenged what the dragons left behind.
The researchers also found no evidence of fire use. Of 4,500 rodent bones studied from owl deposits, none showed charring, contradicting earlier theories that the hobbits cooked their food. A few burned bones in later layers likely came from Homo sapiens who used the cave about 46,000 years ago.
“Given that modern-day Komodo dragons seem to attack humans only occasionally, living in a group and being wary of them may have been enough for Homo floresiensis to avoid becoming prey,” said coauthor Dr. Briana Pobiner.
The findings challenge the idea that Homo floresiensis was closely related to Homo erectus. Instead, the simpler behavior suggests the hobbits may have descended from a more primitive Homo habilis-like ancestor that reached Flores more than a million years ago. Dr. Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum in London said the research “reinforces the minority view that floresiensis does not really belong in the genus Homo.”
The study adds to a growing picture of human evolution as complex, with different lineages adapting in unique ways to their environments.
