Scientific evidence that Hobbit's may have lived in Eurasia!
- Thread starter El Mahdi
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Desdichado
Hero
What skulls from Europe? You talking about the Lapedo child? Because that's a pretty iffy find, and the original claim that it was a hybrid modern human and Neanderthal is not the consensus opinion.Couple of skulls in Europe with jaws and teeth that have a very intermediate sort of structure, from around the time modern humans moved into the area, and associated with known sites. Jury is still out on them. But knowing humans and breeding... if we have 2 fossils.... there were probably about 10,000 times that many.
I don't know of any other supposed intermediate fossils, unless you're referring to those from Romania. As far as I know, only one person in the biz accepts that interpretation, though. And I do know that recent mtDNA studies came down exactly on the opposite side of the question. The consensus opinion, and all convincing evidence, seems to be firmly on the side of "No, they didn't get it on together after all" nowadays.
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Garthanos
Arcadian Knight
Come on, Man...why does it always have to be the males with no standards. I think you'd find a lot of women guilty of dating a Neanderthal or two.
We could be and mayhaps should be more positive and note that women are more forgiving of inferior violent males... they are already used to it.
Garthanos
Arcadian Knight
That's what I recollect as well... but I recall it being that if they did interact the offspring is as gone as the neanderthal... and may not have been fertile.
Jeremy Ackerman-Yost
Explorer
Not an anthropologist myself, and I no longer have any interest in following the primary sources in that field. The skulls I'm referencing I heard about in a report that showed up in mass media. Specifically, some BBC science podcasts maybe a month or two ago.
On a personal note, I continue to expect anthropologists to be wrong about interbreeding because the data is indeterminate, and the history of anthropology is that they will choose to be wrong in the face of hard evidence, so why not be wrong in the face of soft evidence? My experience with anthropologists is that they are much like psychologists.... firmly rooted in the belief that humans are different, special, separate, and inherently better than everything else in the universe. As a biologist who has been forced to live and work in cross proximity to both, I'm prepared to call that a giant bias, especially given how amazingly spotty the fossil record remains.
I have my own biases about Life, the Universe, and Science, but they tend to be inclusive, rather than exclusive. So I have the virtue of parsimony, at least.
On a personal note, I continue to expect anthropologists to be wrong about interbreeding because the data is indeterminate, and the history of anthropology is that they will choose to be wrong in the face of hard evidence, so why not be wrong in the face of soft evidence? My experience with anthropologists is that they are much like psychologists.... firmly rooted in the belief that humans are different, special, separate, and inherently better than everything else in the universe. As a biologist who has been forced to live and work in cross proximity to both, I'm prepared to call that a giant bias, especially given how amazingly spotty the fossil record remains.
I have my own biases about Life, the Universe, and Science, but they tend to be inclusive, rather than exclusive. So I have the virtue of parsimony, at least.
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Desdichado
Hero
If there's one thing that history of science has taught us is that we can't ever be too cocky about our conclusions, because a single unexpected find can (and frequently does) come along that means we have to go back to the drawing board and rebuild our models from scratch. So I'm with you there.
I was just genuinely curious if you knew of some new find or publication that I hadn't heard of. I find the topic intensely interesting.
I was just genuinely curious if you knew of some new find or publication that I hadn't heard of. I find the topic intensely interesting.
Jeremy Ackerman-Yost
Explorer
Alas, nothing concrete. The guys reporting on it sounded excited, but that's not exactly a shock. That's what they get paid for.
Also, sorry I popped my cork about anthropologists. Just had a run-in with an old psych colleague that bent my brain a little, so it was kicking around in my mind and fought it's way out.
Also, sorry I popped my cork about anthropologists. Just had a run-in with an old psych colleague that bent my brain a little, so it was kicking around in my mind and fought it's way out.
swordsmasher
First Post
Tolkien may have been telling the truth!
Possible new human ancestor found in Siberia - Yahoo! News
I love the idea that 3 different species of Humans may have been living side-by-side at the same time. Kind of like the idea that Micheal Crichton played with for Eaters of the Dead (The 13th Warrior), that modern Humans and Neanderthals may have coexisted as late as the 900's.
I'm currently planning a campaign set in Medieval Europe and intend to play around with this idea also. Neanderthals are going to be what Europeans called goblins/orcs. Homo floresinsis will be Gnomes or Halflings. They are very rare and live in hiding in unpopulated forrest areas. Elves are humans also, humans that gained access to a parallel universe way back in the pre-history of modern man. "Elven" forrests (such as Elvedon Forrest in England) will be where this realm can be accessed from. Time in this parallel universe works differently and they have evolved into what we know as Elves. This parallel universe is essentially the Fey Realm. Dwarves will be yet another branch of humans who live in/underneath the mountains of Scandinavia.
Of course, the humans of Medieval Europe won't see any of these races as "people", but as fantastic creatures of myth, legend, and nightmares.
Anyone tried anything like this or played around with similiar ideas?
What other origin stories have you used for your campaigns?
so, can i expect to come over to your game and play a near immortal time lord who skoots around the universe in a tiny blue box picking up hotties as i go?
El Mahdi
Muad'Dib of the Anauroch
so, can i expect to come over to your game and play a near immortal time lord who skoots around the universe in a tiny blue box picking up hotties as i go?
Duh, of course...
I have seen the news and have doubts.
There is so little evidence as there is only one fragment so far, that what are the odds that they got it wrong ?
Also, the claims about the second human species that lived on a remote island are somewhat suspect, as they could have been an isolated insular population only, and not a distinct species.
There is so little evidence as there is only one fragment so far, that what are the odds that they got it wrong ?
Also, the claims about the second human species that lived on a remote island are somewhat suspect, as they could have been an isolated insular population only, and not a distinct species.
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