The Hobbit of Flores
THE discovery of an allegedly new species of human on the island of Flores has caused a stir in the world of anthropology. In an article published in the science journal Nature, Australian researchers Mike Morwood and Peter Brown from the University of New England in New South Wales claimed to have found the fossils of a Hobbit-like human (Homo floresiensis) in a cave on the East Nusa Tenggara island. The tiny human is said to be 106 centimeters tall with a head the size of a grapefruit. Tempos Philipus Parera visited the site of the discovery at Liang Bua last August and filed this report.
September 20, 2005
THE 45-minute journey from Kota Ruteng traveled on by Tempo early in August ended at the edge of a big cave. A narrow access led into the cave at the entrance of which stood a portal with signboard scrawled with words of greeting: Selamat Datang (Welcome).
This is Liang Bua which in the local language means a cold cave. Located at Dusun Bere, about 15 kilometers from Kota Ruteng, the Manggarai district capital on the westernmost part of Flores Isl
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