Liang Bua Cave, Indonesia - Archaeology of Flores Man

Return to the Island of Flores

It's been over two years since the October 2004 report of the discovery of the skeletal remains of a hominin called by the press the Hobbit, Flores Man, or the Little Lady of Flores. The debate continues to rage about whether the remains represent a deformed human, a devolved Homo erectus, or an entirely new species of hominin. I don't know about you, but in the wake of the latest findings I have now crossed the peak of comfort with respect to my own level of confusion, so today I'm beginning to collect some summary information about Flores Man, the site where the skeleton was found, and the controversies surrounding the find.

I'm an archaeologist, so let's start with the site. Liang Bua is the name of the karst limestone cave from which Flores Man (a.k.a. the Hobbit) was found. Liang Bua is located in the Wae Racang Valley on the western end of the tiny island of Flores in Indonesia. The stratified site deposits are 12 meters in depth, and within the deposits have been found both modern humans and the hominin remains called Homo floresiensis.

• Read more of the Liang Bua Cave site description

or more on earlier findings of Flores (and a new and growing bibliography):

• The Little Lady of Flores
• Further Fossil Finds of Flores
• Is Flores Man a Deformed Homo Sapiens?
• Flores Man Bibliography

This is going to take a while, but look for more features in the future.