It is on again at 8:00 Pacific Time and also again this Wednesday. I haven't watch all of it yet but it looks pretty interesting. The locals say they lived in caves on the island. The local people describe them accurately. What a find that would be if they were still alive.

(after watching more, The locals think they were killed off 300 years ago)

I thought this was one of the most interesting programs ever on ancient people. Below are some of the subjects that were covered by the program.

The brain was analyzed and determined to be very much like Homo erectus based on the shape of the skull. It was much smaller though and was only the size of a chimp's brain. It had a greatly enlarged front section of the brain called the Brodmann's area 10, larger than any other hominid including erectus, which they theorized gave the hobbits superior intelligence than would be expected from an animal of that size. Brodmann's area 10 is used for planning, taking initiative and carrying out intentions, according to the scientist on the program. That certainly demonstrates that mental abilities may change and adapt over time in a hominid. Their brain shrunk, which is devolution according to some. Homo erectus, if that is what the Hobbits are, shrunk drastically so I think the reverse should also be considered as a possibility. I think it is likely that floresiensis is far more evolved or different from erectus than would be required for erectus to be the ancestor of Bigfoot.

The first Homo erectus that arrived there had to cross a 12 mile channel crossing with very high currents to reach the island of Flores. Some people on the show made a raft trip and crossed the straight in one day. I am not so sure they didn't just swim there or wait till the wind and current were more favorable. When you are talking about 10's of thousands of years, that gives a lot of time for Homo erectus to reach the island. A pregnant woman could populate the island and have new arrivals every few hundred years. It would eventually become a genetically viable population. People can live for days if they get swept out to sea and who knows if erectus is not a better swimmer than we are. I think they may be overestimating the capabilities of erectus building rafts. Not that is not possible, just that the evidence of their getting there doesn't require it. (IMO)

I think it is interesting, the story of how they were wiped out 300 years ago. The Flores tribesman said that the Hobbits lived on the slope of a large nearby volcano and came down to their village to raid their crops and houses. Humans and Hobbits apparently lived together for many 10's of thousands of years. The Hobbits, perhaps inhabiting the slopes and caves of the volcano, may have raided or scavenged on the humans. The tribe finally had enough when a baby was taken by the Hobbits and the locals burned the Hobbits out of their cave. After that, they believe they killed them off. I am a little suspicious how they are telling the story so accurately after that much time. It is possible that stories could survive that long but I am skeptical. I think the tribe's people may just be just telling the researches something they think they want to hear. I would sure like a chance to explore the caves on the volcano though. The locals apparently avoid that area. It would be a great place to explore.

I think they made the Hobbits too human. If they actually looked that cut, their women would have been hunted down and captured by all the human males. OK, I am not talking about her face. I also think that the evidence for them using spears is weak and I am very dubious because of their small brains. I wonder how they could have lived on a small island for 10's of thousands of years with modern humans. Did we tolerate them as was suggested by the show? Did they avoid us by living on the slopes of volcano's or just hiding in the forest and avoiding humans. You can see how an erectus population could be forced to live in the forest. I think the way that the scientist made them completely hairless is an indication of preconceived notions and the attempt to make them more human than they perhaps were. I am not saying they should be hairy, just that it is not possible to know that. They gave life to her bones, so they had to make some guesses and assumptions so I don't mean to sound critical. Just don't take the reproductions as being necessarily accurate in details they couldn't know. Also there were humans during much of the time Hobbits lived on the island, so I'm suspicious of the evidence for their technology.