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A New Human: The Startling Discovery and Strange Story of the "Hobbits" of Flores, Indonesia, Updated Paperback Edition
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$ 15.96
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$ 19.95 |
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| Item Number |
755611 |
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Item Description...
Product Description
In the most revolutionary archaeological find of the new century, an international team of archaeologists led by Mike Morwood discovered a new, diminutive species of human on the remote Indonesian island of Flores. Nicknamed the "Hobbit," this was no creation of Tolkien's fantasy. The three foot tall skeleton with a brain the size of a chimpanzee's was a tool-using, fire-making, cooperatively hunting person who inhabited Flores alongside modern humans as recently as 13,000 years ago. This book is Morwood's description of this monumental discovery and the intense study that has been undertaken to validate his view of its relationship to our species. He chronicles the bitter debates over Homo Floresiensis, the objections (some spiteful) of colleagues, the theft and damage of some of the specimens, and the endless battle against government and academic bureaucracies that hindered his research. This updated paperback edition contains an epilogue that reports on the most recent debates, findings, and analyses of this amazing discovery.
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Item Specifications...
Pages 256
Dimensions: Length: 8.8" Width: 5.9" Height: 0.6"
Weight: 0.95 lbs.
Binding Softcover
Release Date Mar 31, 2009
ISBN 1598744143
EAN 9781598744149
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Availability 0 units.
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Reviews - What do our customers think?
 | This discovery has done more than the Indiana Jones movies to stimulate interest in Archeology May 13, 2009 |
Like the rest of the world, I was fascinated by the 2004 discovery of small Hobbit-like hominid fossils on the island of Flores. Also like the rest of the world, I had little appreciation of the process and politics behind the find. In this book, Morwood recounts his role in the finds. The book focuses on the science of the Hobbits themselves, including the preparations for the archeology and descriptions of the fossils themselves. Morwood also discusses the basic science behind paleoanthropology and island dwarfism in separate chapters, which help buttress his claim that the "Hobbits" are actually a distinct species.
However, the book also has some fascinating accounts of the bureaucratic and political hassles the team faced. Most dramatically, the core team of Australian and Indonesian archeologists competed with older Indonesian archeologists who wanted to keep the bones for their own studies. Morwood never spends so much time on these problems to distract from the importance of the find, but it does create a more realistic picture of science as a process.
Morwood is biased and does not try to hide his anger at critics who dismiss the find as the result of pathology (such as modern humans with microcephaly). However, I thought the book presented enough evidence to show that the claims should be taken seriously. More studies and peer review are of course welcome, but this book presents the evidence and arguments in a manner that the "he-said, she-said" style of journalism fails to capture. Morwood directly addresses the criticisms (for example noting that microcephaly would not produce the other primitive features found on the bones, such as feet with no arches). Even more interestingly, Morwood discusses the history of paleoanthropology and how pathology had often been used to explain away new species of hominids.
My one complaint about the book is that it is pretty short (especially for the price!). It is around 240 pages, but fairly large text and a few pictures scattered throughout. I read it in about a day (a day during which I had other chores to complete). I thought the sections on current theories of human evolution could have been expanded to explain the full diversity of past humans (over 20 species). I was also a bit unclear how Morwood sees Asia in the history of human evolution. He obviously believes Asia played a larger role than is credited (especially when compared to Africa), but the "Out of Africa" hypothesis has other strong elements (including the fact that there is far more human diversity on Africa, suggesting a longer evolution on the continent). Hopefully, we will hear more about the Hobbits and their role in reshaping the story of human evolution. | | | Write your own review about A New Human: The Startling Discovery and Strange Story of the "Hobbits" of Flores, Indonesia, Updated Paperback Edition
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