NationStates Jolt Archive

Turns out that yes, they are...:p

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7276943.stm

The row over the origins of "Hobbit" fossils found on the Indonesian island of Flores has taken a new twist.

An Australian team claims the little people were not a new human species, but modern humans with a form of dwarfism caused by poor nutrition.

In 2004, international researchers announced the discovery of the ancient remains in the Liang Bua Cave.

There has been debate since then over whether the bones are from diseased humans or a new human "cousin".

The latest theory, published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, claims the Hobbits were true humans, but did not grow to normal size because of environmental factors.

Dr Peter Obendorf from the School of Applied Science at RMIT University, Melbourne, and colleagues, believe the little people developed a dwarfism condition because of severe nutritional deficiencies.

Turns out that yes, they are...:p

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7276943.stm
I saw this on the BBC, too, and was a little surprised. Wasn't there a debate to whether they were a separate species when they were first found? It doesn't seem that any new evidence has turned up to more strongly support one over the other since them; I wasn't really sure why it was news.

Of course not Tolkien woulds not lies to us.

I saw this on the BBC, too, and was a little surprised. Wasn't there a debate to whether they were a separate species when they were first found? It doesn't seem that any new evidence has turned up to more strongly support one over the other since them; I wasn't really sure why it was news.There's nothing new really, same guys making the same arguments as at the beginning, same guys on the other side still unconvinced; but the "dwarfism" theorists have a new paper published.

Turns out that yes, they are...:p

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7276943.stm

Apparently there are side effects to a diet of lembas and ent-draughts.

who'se to say what is "normal size"?

and who the hell attatched the label "hobbits"?

the contention as i recal, was that here were historical records of people of smaller stature living in the forrest or somewhere, who the people who lived in the villages that had more outside contact, didn't know as individuals personally and this, forrest people had been helping themselves to the villager's crops or something.

it's just wierd how people twist things arround politically to make something, anything, sensationalized.

i can sort of half way understand why this is happining though.
basically nature abhors homoganiety, and the dominent western uberculture has much to adamantly attempted defacto, to reduce cultural and political diversity, all, if anything, in the name of 'proving' its absurd pretentions.

i think we're all really messing ourselves up by not letting there be more REAL mystery in this world to explore and enjoy.

one more argument, really, to stop trying to make everything have to begin and end with little green pieces of paper.

mother nature doesn't take currency, or any other kind of symbolic value.

=^^=
.../\...

isn't this "news" a few years old??

Sigh. The guys behind this new study didn't even have access to the actual remains, and they also didn't address the findings from the earlier study (which did have access to them) that showed that the animals' wrist bones were significantly different from those of a modern humans, much more like a chimpanzees. It seems that alll in all the facts point quite clearly to "separate species", it's only a few naysayers left who claim otherwise.

who'se to say what is "normal size"?

and who the hell attatched the label "hobbits"?

the contention as i recal, was that here were historical records of people of smaller stature living in the forrest or somewhere, who the people who lived in the villages that had more outside contact, didn't know as individuals personally and this, forrest people had been helping themselves to the villager's crops or something.

it's just wierd how people twist things arround politically to make something, anything, sensationalized.

i can sort of half way understand why this is happining though.
basically nature abhors homoganiety, and the dominent western uberculture has much to adamantly attempted defacto, to reduce cultural and political diversity, all, if anything, in the name of 'proving' its absurd pretentions.

i think we're all really messing ourselves up by not letting there be more REAL mystery in this world to explore and enjoy.

one more argument, really, to stop trying to make everything have to begin and end with little green pieces of paper.

mother nature doesn't take currency, or any other kind of symbolic value.

=^^=
.../\...

:confused: What are you talking about? Most of the supposed myths about the Homo floresiensis told on the island are really no different from similar tales of dimunitive dwarves or fairy spirits and the like told elsewhere in the world, so there really is very little to prove they existed into the modern human period, let alone them being recorded in any kind of historical document. All we have are the bones, which point to them having been a separate species.

isn't this "news" a few years old??

umm no...

Last Updated: Wednesday, 5 March 2008, 10:48 GMT

Sigh.

You know, every time I see someone start their post with "Sigh," regardless of the rest of the content of their post, I can't help but just think, "This guy is an ass." (You may or may not be an ass, it's just the impression such an affectation gives me)

Just a pet peeve.

It's obviously an Orcish plot to cover up the Elvish Occupation Government's war with the Dwarf Liberation front so that they can sieze power.

Are Hobbits A Myth?!?
yep, Hobbiths are both myths and mythers.

after all there are both boy hobbiths and girl hobbiths...

Does that mean trolls no longer exist either? even on the internet?
What about Hobbits on the internet?
hmmm

You know, every time I see someone start their post with "Sigh," regardless of the rest of the content of their post, I can't help but just think, "This guy is an ass." (You may or may not be an ass, it's just the impression such an affectation gives me)


Especially when someone types 'Sigh' instead of making it an action like *sigh*. I mean.. wow, if someone said 'sigh' to me in real life instead of actually sighing, my reaction would be...Lolwut?

umm no...

Actually yeah. I saw a special on the Science Channel like, 2 months ago.

umm no...
UB is right though, in that this isn't the first time this particular issue has come up, with the same theory.

RhynoDD;13506484']Actually yeah. I saw a special on the Science Channel like, 2 months ago.

Ayup. It's actually at least a year to two old, iirc.

The 'hobbit' cranial capacity was only somewhere around 300cc. The average modern human is around 1200-1400cc.

Something tells me they aren't just people with dwarfism.

RhynoDD;13506484']Actually yeah. I saw a special on the Science Channel like, 2 months ago.

I don't know what Science Chanel is...UB said this was a few YEARS old, not months...