The ancestors of the ancient “hobbits” who once lived on the Indonesian island of Flores were not the only early hominins that went through deep ocean barriers more than a million years ago.
A team of archaeologists from Indonesia and Australia has already discovered the instruments of a mysterious neighbor who resides on Sulawesi island north about the same time, if not earlier.
“It is very unlikely that these early hominins had had the cognitive capacity (especially the ability to plan the planning) needed to invent boats,” the archaeologist and the artist of the expedition, Adam Bro, told Sciencealert.
“It is more likely that the homini will reach Sulawesi accidentally, most likely as a result of” rafting “of natural plant mats. It is believed that rodents and monkeys make surface crossings from the Asian continent to get to Sulawesi this way.”
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The seven swinging stones of Sulawesi were found at different depths underground, but according to the dating of the local sandstone and the nearby pork fossils, the instruments range from 1.04 million to 1.48 million years.
If it is correct, the artifacts could be the worst evidence of human activity in Wallacea, a series of mainly Indonesian islands that have divided Asian and Australian continents for millions of years.
The identity of isolated tool manufacturers remains a mystery.
Broome has been studying the early hominins in the region for decades, and he has led the recent archaeological expedition in Sulawesi with Budianto Hakim of the National Agency for Research and Innovation of Indonesia (BRIN).
Archaeologist Debbie Arg, who did not participate in the discovery, told Sciencealert that the findings were “most important” because they add to the scary fact that the early Pleistocene hominins can somehow make sea crossings.
“With evidence of homini on three islands that have never been attached to the continent – Flores, Luzon and now Sulawesi – Island Southeast Asia is formed as an exceptional border for human evolution, “Aoju said.
Stone instrument found on Sulawesi. (MW Moore/University of New England)
So far, the latest evidence of stone instruments in Wallacea – which are considered 1.02 million years – come from Flores Island.
Flores is the same place where archaeologists discovered The short status Homo Floresiensis – also known as “hobbit” – in a cave In 2003S This meter-high hominin (3.3 feet) With brain the size of the grapefruit He surprised the holy surprise when he was found because he didn’t seem like another early man.
The remains of Z. Floresiensis Date 100,000 years agoBut his alleged ancestors on the island Date back 700,000 yearsS The stone instruments of 1.02 million years of Flores are probably made by these ancestors whether it originates from Signal Or another type of hominin on the Asian continent.
According to an interview with 2021 with archaeologist Lucy Timbrell, Bruom accidentally happened on Flores instruments while “breastfeeding a horrific hangover” due to a local village ceremony last night.
“As I stumbled into the bloated heat, in a confused state, I found some highly patched stone instruments eroded by a fluid conglomerate exposed at the base of the ravine,” Bruom recalled in the interview.
“Since then, I have been trying to make great archeological discoveries while Mahmur, but it only works once.”
The collection of stone tools found on Sulawesi. (MW Moore/University of New England)
Archaeologists have not yet revealed Homininovic fossils of Sulawesi, but the evidence of stone instruments shows their existence.
It is unknown whether the Sulawesi population is linked to the homini of Flores, but the late Mike Morvud, one of the Co-Discoveries of the Hobby of 2003, was convinced that Sulawesi was the key to understanding where H. Floresiensis come from.
“We have always suspected that the homini has been created on Sulawesi for a very long period of time, but we have never found clear evidence so far,” Broome told Sciencealert.
Influenced by Morvud’s thinking, Bruom suspects that Sulawesi was once a step towards Flores from continental Asia (which once extended to Java and Borneo).
In 2010, Morvood told before Guardian The fact that he suspects that Sulawesi tools can date two million years. “This will put the cat among the pigeons,” he said at the time.
Undoubtedly, he would be excited about the recent work of the Bruom and Hakim team.
Archaeologists are now planning to look for Sulawesi for direct remains of mysterious tool manufacturers.
“We are also working in many younger objects that we hope to give an idea of what happened to these early people when our species arrived on the island at least 65,000 years ago,” Broome said.
The study has been published in NatureS