A New Human: the Startling Discovery and Strange Story of the ''Hobbits'' of Flores, Indonesia, Updated Paperback Edition

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- CONTENTS -- PROLOGUE -- 1. In the Footsteps of the Father -- 2. Stories from Cold Cave -- 3. Planning the Project -- 4. A Body of Evidence -- 5. The Devil of Dogma -- 6. Out of Asia -- 7. Islands in the Evolutionary Stream -- 8. The Reaction -- 9. Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue -- EPILOGUE -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- REFERENCES -- ABOUT THE AUTHORS In the most revolutionary archaeological find of the new century, an international team of archaeologists led by Mike Morwood discovered a new, diminutive species of human on the remote Indonesian island of Flores. Nicknamed the “Hobbit,” this was no creation of Tolkien's fantasy. The three foot tall skeleton with a brain the size of a chimpanzee's was a tool-using, fire-making, cooperatively hunting person who inhabited Flores alongside modern humans as recently as 13,000 years ago. This book is Morwood's description of this monumental discovery and the intense study that has been undertaken to validate his view of its relationship to our species. He chronicles the bitter debates over Homo Floresiensis, the objections (some spiteful) of colleagues, the theft and damage of some of the specimens, and the endless battle against government and academic bureaucracies that hindered his research. This updated paperback edition contains an epilogue that reports on the most recent debates, findings, and analyses of this amazing discovery. In October 2004, a team of Australian and Indonesian anthropologists led by Mike Morwood and Raden Pandji Soejono stunned the world with their announcement of the discovery of the first example of a new species of human, Homo floresiensis, which they nicknamed the "Hobbit." This was no creation of Tolkien's fantasy, however, but a tool-using, fire-making, cooperatively hunting person.