Liang Bua Hobit Cave in Flores Indonesia
Liang bua cave is another place in Indonesia worth visiting to see a different side of the country. This place has been increasingly famous since the discovery of human bones around the island of flores. They are believed as homo floresiensis but in a hobbit shape. Scientists are still debating where to put the link, but the search for the remaining bones is still ongoing. Many locals and international tourists choose to visit the island to learn its history. Of course, the island is also a great destination for families with school-age kids.
Liang Bua in Flores Island Indonesia
Liang Bua is located on Flores Island, Indonesia. A visit to this Cave must be included in your holiday trip. You can enjoy riding a motorbike, car, bemo, or truck along the way. It is better to go there with a tour guide so he/she can explain well about the finding of bones in this cave. However, if you like to explore the island in your own way, you can go to the cave yourself and get the experience of learning history here.
The Cave is the place where homo floresiensis was found. It is new species of pre-historic human being called Homo floresiensis but in a smaller shape. They must have got deformation. Since they are small and short, they are often called hobbits and the cave is more famous by the name Flores Hobbit Cave. This place has stalactites and stalagmites, as any other caves do. Inside, you will see ash and mud at the point where the bones were first found.
As a Homo floresiensis Cave in Flores, this place must have played an important role in the past. Even though dwarfs are not common, people believe that they had lived here before. That is why, as new things were found, this place has been increasingly popular.
Discovery of Homo Floresiensis Fossils the ‘Hobbit’ in Indonesia.
On September 2003, there was a discovery that horrendous the world of science, in which the fossils are known as Homo floresiensis, expected to be the extinct species of the Homo genus. Due to its size, Homo floresiensis fossils are nicknamed the ‘Hobbit’, as in J.R.R Tolkien’s character in his fiction books. The joint Australian-Indonesian researchers announced the discovery of the Flores hobbit from the cave on the remote area of Flores Island, Indonesia
Further Research on Homo Floresienis Fossils
The fossils represent the small-bodied homo (which is now widely known as the ‘Hobbit’), and this discovery left disputes among scientists worldwide and unending controversies until today. Fossils of Homo floresiensis are called tiny adults, with the age between 13,000 to 19,000 and are considered modern humans in the Old or New World era. The condition of the fossils creates a dispute on whether the Hobbit has an intellectual disability.
Critics point out that the specimen is considered an extinct human with a small brain, short body, and intellectual disability. Some further research has been conducted to test the distinction between the normal human brain with those with microcephaly in the skull of the fossil. However, a study revealed that Homo floresiensis discovered through a CT scan actually had a larger brain size, measuring 426 cubic centimeters, or more than one-third the size of a healthy human brain.
Flores Hobbit specimens are predicted to live about 95,000 and 18,000 years ago, with the first female skeleton found (LB1) with the most complete structure. Scientists argue that homo floresiensis specimen weighed about 65 to 78 pounds which made them gets their nickname the hobbit.
International controversies regarding the discovery
International dispute marks serious response towards the discovery in the remote area of Indonesia, after the publication of a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science that argues the Flores hobbit was a modern human who suffered from Down syndrome. Overall, there have been dozens of scientific articles about Homo Floresiensis published and hundreds of stories regarding this discovery.
However, some experts also point out that Homo Floresiensis fossil does not represent modern human as predicted before. It is because the wrist bones of the specimen resembled more apes’ arms. The dispute says more about whether the homo floresiensis fossil represented modern human features or it has monkey-like traits, and this controversy still has no conclusion until today. In addition to the fossils discovery, the researchers also found some of bird fossils that considered as marabou stork, measuring 1.8 meters that lived sometime between 20,000 and 50,000 years ago.
countryside around the cave
Besides, seeing the beauty and uniqueness of the Homo floresiensis cave in Flores island exploring the nature and countryside around is a wonderful experience where you can find some nice rice terraces, local plantation grown by people living around this area. Try to make a visit and keep direct contact to the villagers around is also memorable moment for you.