Was Homo floresiensis a Hunter or a Scavenger?

WASHINGTON, D.C.—According to a Phys.org report, E. Grace Veatch of the Smithsonian Institution and her colleagues have reevaluated the idea that Homo floresiensis, a small-brained hominin that stood about 3.5 feet tall, hunted dwarf elephants and controlled fire. First, the researchers examined fresh tooth marks left on the bones of a goat consumed by an Indonesian Komodo dragon held at Zoo Atlanta. They then compared the fresh tooth marks with marks on more than 3,100 fossilized bone fragments from extinct dwarf elephants (Stegodon florensis insularis) and some 7,000 rodent bones found in Liang Bua Cave on the Indonesian island of Flores, where fossils of Homo floresiensis, or the “hobbit,” were discovered. Veatch and her colleagues determined that the marks left on the fossilized elephant bones were similar to the fresh Komodo dragon tooth marks on the goat bones. They also noted that these tooth marks were concentrated on bones from the meatiest parts of the animals. The stone tool marks, meanwhile, were found to be concentrated on rib and foot fossils, suggesting that H. floresiensis had scavenged what was left of the carcasses. The researchers also suggest that discolored bones uncovered at Liang Bua had not been charred, but were stained by minerals in the soil over time. “Moreover, no signs of intentional use of fire are present in the stratigraphic units associated with H. floresiensis,” the researchers concluded. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Science Advances. To read about another recent discovery in Indonesia, go to "Mark of the Human."