The diminutive ancient humans known as Homo floresiensis, often dubbed ‘hobbits’, likely scavenged meat from animals killed by Komodo dragons rather than being skilled hunters themselves. This is according to a comprehensive study involving the analysis of thousands of ancient bones and an unusual experiment with a living Komodo dragon.
Fossils of Homo floresiensis, which stood just over a metre tall, were first discovered in 2004 on the Indonesian island of Flores. Their remains, dated between 90,000 and 50,000 years old, were initially believed to indicate advanced behaviours such as controlled fire use and the ability to hunt large animals like the dwarf elephant species, Stegodon. However, their cognitive abilities, particularly given their small brain size, have been a subject of ongoing debate among researchers.
Dr. Elizabeth Veatch from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., and her team, suspected that the Stegodon bones found alongside H. floresiensis remains in the Liang Bua cave were not evidence of hunting. Instead, they hypothesised that Komodo dragons, native to Flores and other Indonesian islands, were responsible for the kills. To test this, the team fed a dead goat to a Komodo dragon at Zoo Atlanta, observing the types of marks the reptile left on the bones. This allowed them to create a comparative dataset for identifying Komodo dragon activity.
The researchers then compared the bones from their experiment to over 3,000 Stegodon bone fragments found in H. floresiensis deposits at Liang Bua cave. They also examined nearly 7,000 more recent giant rat bones associated with Homo sapiens at the same site. A key finding was that the cut marks left by H. floresiensis’s stone tools on Stegodon bones were primarily on less desirable cuts, such as cranial bones and thoracic vertebrae, suggesting they were accessing leftovers rather than prime cuts. This contrasts with the Komodo dragon’s preference for meatier parts of the carcass.
Furthermore, the study found only one instance of a Stegodon bone associated with H. floresiensis showing signs of fire exposure, which was likely due to disturbance from later human activity. In stark contrast, a fifth of the rat bones left by modern humans after the extinction of H. floresiensis displayed clear evidence of having been cooked. This disparity strongly suggests that Homo floresiensis did not routinely use fire, challenging another long-held assumption about their capabilities. Dr. Adam Brumm of Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia, supported the findings, stating the study “convincingly” shows H. floresiensis likely scavenged rather than hunted Stegodon.