January 27, 2005
BBC
People in Oxfordshire are getting a chance to see first hand a discovery which archaeologists say "rewrites our knowledge of human evolution".
A replica of the skull of the Homo floresiensis - dubbed "the hobbit" - is on display at the University Museum of Natural History in Oxford.
The skull proved the existence of a one-metre-tall species that lived in Indonesia about 12,000 years ago.
The skull will be incorporated into the permanent displays of the museum.
Australian archaeologists unearthed the bones while digging at a site called Liang Bua, one of numerous limestone caves on Flores Island.
The remains of the partial skeleton were found at a depth of 5.9m (19ft).
At first, the researchers thought it was the body of a child. But further investigation revealed otherwise.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/4201243.stm