Homo floresiensis and the African Oldowan

Authors

Mark W. Moore, University of New England
Adam R. Brumm, University of CambridgeFollow

RIS ID

44124

Publication Details

Moore, M. & Brumm, A. R. (2009). Homo floresiensis and the African Oldowan. In E. Hovers & D. Braun (Eds.), Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Oldowan (pp. 61-69). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.

Abstract

The small-bodied hominin Homo jloresiensis was recently identified at Liang Bua, Flores, Indonesia. Some researchers have argued that H. jloresiensis represents pathological individuals from a behaviorally modern Homo sapiens population, arguing in part that the stone-tools found in association are too "advanced" to have been manufactured by a nonmodern hominin. Here we show that the Pleistocene stone-tools from Flores, including Liang Bua, are technologically and morphologically similar to the 1.2-1.9 Mya OldowaniDeveloped Oldowan tools from Olduvai Gorge in Africa. The Pleistocene lithic technology on Flores was therefore within the capabilities of small-brained, nonmodern hominins.