Between Ape and Human An Anthropologist on the Trail of a Hidden Hominoid

While doing fieldwork on the remote Indonesian island of Flores, anthropologist Gregory Forth came across people talking about half-apelike, half-humanlike creatures that once lived in a cave on the slopes of a nearby volcano. Over the years he continued to record what locals had to say about these mystery hominoids while searching for ways to explain them as imaginary symbols of the wild or other cultural representations.
Then along came the 'hobbit'. In 2003, several skeletons of a small-statured early human species alongside stone tools and animal remains were excavated in a cave in western Flores. NamedHomo floresiensis, this ancient hominin was initially believed to have lived until as recently as 12,000 years ago— possibly overlapping with the appearance ofHomo sapienson Flores. In view...