Who are hobbits? Hobbits: origin. D&D: The smallest role-playing game heroes

Hobbiton (English Hobbiton) - the city of hobbits, was built for the film "The Lord of the Rings", and has become a popular attraction in New Zealand.

When Peter Jackson, director of the famous blockbuster “The Lord of the Rings,” saw these places while flying over one of the Matamata Islands in New Zealand, he immediately realized that they were ideal for the film adaptation of the Hobbit village. Already in March 1999, he began preparing a settlement for the hobbits in order to begin filming by the end of the year!



Hobbiton was built on the territory of a private sheep farm. Its owners are three brothers, two of whom live there and the third in Matamata, a small town 20 minutes away, set in green, rolling agricultural countryside.


What Peter Jackson liked most about this was Amazing beauty nature and the absence of even a hint of civilization. Thus, an American film company acquired the central part of the farm and built the city of Hobbiton there for the filming of the cult film “The Lord of the Rings”.


Typically, directors create cardboard sets for their films, or draw them on the computer. But Peter Jackson decided to make solid scenery.



As you know, the New Zealand army was involved in the filming. The soldiers were building a 1.5 kilometer road to Hobitton, where special earth-moving machines and a variety of other equipment were brought. 37 holes were dug for the houses on the slopes, and the rooms themselves were decorated from wood and plastic. Fences were made from barberry, and small gardens were planted, which were carefully nurtured throughout the winter.




The roof for the mill was thatched from reeds from a nearby farm. Artificial leaves brought from Taiwan were stuck on old withered trees. For a whole 9 months, 400 people worked every day to transform this place into the famous Hobitton, located in Middle-earth!
After filming the trilogy, this place was abandoned. The decorations were removed and empty eye sockets remained here for some time. By 2011, only 17 of the 37 houses had survived. The only guests there were groups of tourists and numerous flocks of sheep.




However, with the creation of The Hobbit, the scenery was again updated and this time left to the delight of tourists.
During the creation of The Hobbit, the number of buildings increased several times and were left almost in their original form for the amusement of tourists.



At the request of the American owners, local farm workers take care of all the living creatures inhabiting Hobbiton and the unique garden. There is a bus running from a fairly large cafe by the road with a prominent sign that says "Hobbiton" several times a day. The town is comfortably located by the lake, and if you look around, you won’t see civilization anywhere nearby. On the approaches to Hobbiton there are sheep all around, hills - the usual things for New Zealand.
After the release of the film, a pilgrimage of fans began to the farm - the owners were extremely unhappy that people began to come to them asking to show them where the film was filmed. Thus, the idea arose to create a tourist route to Hobbiton in order to somehow streamline the flow of uninvited tourists and free up the owners. The idea turned out to be successful - currently the farm is visited by about 300 people a day. The Hobbiton tour costs NZ$50 and takes about three hours.



Peacefully grazing sheep add a unique touch to this pastoral landscape. And of course, for fans of the film and book "The Lord of the Rings" this place is full of special charm. A little imagination - and you can see how Gandalf and his carriage ride along a narrow path winding among the hills, humming a song, and how he comes out to meet him from the house at the very top of the hill old friend Bilbo, how they smoke pipes, looking at the valley below with the lake...
Compound feed is distributed to tourists; you can feed tame sheep. Nearby you can see how sheep are sheared, you can feed milk to small sheep.
About 30% of Hobbiton visitors have never read a book or seen a movie. There are such statistics.
Not only children, but also many adults come here, dreaming of walking along the same paths as their favorite characters from the film “The Lord of the Rings”.
Hobbiton is now a museum, as a permanent exhibition and attraction for fans of the film!

There is such a curious thing - the cycle of myths in nature. Sometimes what we thought was real turns out to be just a legend, and what was originally a myth suddenly finds fascinating parallels in reality. Tolkien's hobbits are just the second case. They were just fiction until, in 2003, paleoanthropologists unearthed skeletons of miniature creatures, our distant relatives, on an island in Southeast Asia, who were immediately nicknamed “hobbits” for their resemblance. Of course, they did not carry the ring of omnipotence with them and did not live in a world similar to the Shire. But if not for the date of discovery, everyone would certainly have believed that it was they who inspired Tolkien to create his halflings - they had so many unexpected parallels.

One can be amazed at the imagination of the professor who created the hobbits, but it becomes even more amazing when one realizes that he managed to predict and model the fate of a real people that existed before they were discovered.

In 2003, several remains of humanoid creatures were found on the Indonesian island of Flores. of different ages(from 13 to 95 thousand years). That is, they existed here for quite a long time and for a long time. Scientists called the find “Floresian man” and, as expected, immediately began to argue about who he was: a branch of Homo habilis, Pithecanthropus, or even the result of incest of homo sapiens (there is generally an idea that this is an erectus with Down syndrome) . Everything is complicated by the fact that these “people” were no more than a meter tall and had a brain three times smaller than ours. That is, even less than that of Australopithecus!

They also had a life full of exotic adventures, like hunting elephants and fighting against dragons and giant birds that were several times their size. Also, apparently, ugly and voracious giants once appeared in the lives of these “hobbits” and began to exterminate them - that is, representatives of our species.

And now, for clarity, let’s compare Tolkien’s hobbits and the hobbits from the island of Flores.

Appearance

Let's remember Tolkien's hobbits: their size is about half the height of an adult man. In other words, in front of us are creatures about a meter in height. The Flores people repeat this rule exactly. For example, the “hobbit” from the Liang Bua cave was only 1.09 meters in height. Just imagine this one next to you: the size of a ten-year-old, and at the same time - an adult warrior and hunter, most likely with a beard and scars. It is possible that he succeeded in secretly killing such careless carcasses as you and me.

Place of residence

Professor Tolkien's hobbits lived in relative isolation from the rest of the world, rarely communicating with people, and even disliking them. At the end of the trilogy, King Aragorn swore that no man would set foot in the Hobbit without coming. What's in reality?

Hominid hobbits also lived in isolation, although it was of natural origin and much more noticeable. According to the most established version of the origin, the ancestors of homo floresiensis came to the island of Flores about a million years ago. There they quite quickly, in about two hundred thousand years, shrank to their size, and in this form they lived there, without interfering with the outside world in their little tropical paradise.

The most surprising thing is that scientists have not yet found out for certain how exactly the Floresians got to their island, because it is separated from the nearest island of Java by at least twenty-six kilometers. And the depth there is such that the sea here never dried up, so they could not come by land.

We have to assume that already in those days someone still created primitive rafts. But then, of our ancestors, only Homo erectus, erectus people, existed on the planet, and they have not yet found a single sign of the construction of rafts or boats. True, some scientists generally believe that the ancestors of the Flores hobbits were Homo habilis, even more primitive hominids, and then it becomes completely confusing and incredible.

Skills and properties

Tolkien describes his hobbits as extremely dexterous creatures, with skillful hands, quick-witted, but a little averse to innovation, accustomed to a measured and calm life.

What do we know about the Flores people? Their dexterity and skill are evidenced by the fact that they made numerous stone tools of a small size (just for their small hands). Moreover, judging by the experiments of scientists, making a normal stone tool for yourself is quite a task, and you need to be smart enough to achieve success in stone processing.

As for intelligence, there is a double impression. On the one hand, surviving on an island among giant (up to half a meter long!) rats and other monsters, and making complex tools is a clear sign of good thinking abilities. On the other hand, a brain of four hundred cubic centimeters is the same as the average chimpanzee, and they, in comparison with humans, are not very smart.

So it turns out: they don’t seem to be fools, but they don’t seem to be too smart. Just like Tolkien.

"Hobbits" and the world around them

In The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien describes the dangers external world, which caught the brave halflings who faced different types monsters, some of which helped the hobbits, while others carefully hindered them, or even tried to destroy them.

The primitive halflings of Flores, despite the small area of ​​the island, were extremely “lucky” in terms of proximity to monsters.

Remember the giant Eagles from the world of Middle-earth. They were messengers of the great Valar Manwë, who at the right moment more than once saved not only the hobbits, but also everyone else. Florence wore something similar. Huge marabou storks, up to 1.80 m tall, must have seemed something truly monstrous to the meter-long Homo floresiensis. And it is unlikely that the marabou helped them in any way - according to some sources, on the contrary: they could easily carry away their children, like some kind of chickens. http://www.membrana.ru/particle/4606

Monstrous mumaks are elephant-like giant creatures that were brought to Gondor by Sauron's allies, the eastern people from the Haradrim. One of them in Peter Jackson's film, The Return of the King, was deftly defeated by the elf Legolas.

Florence wore something similar, but everything turned upside down in the most bizarre way. In conditions of island isolation, local elephants, stegodons, sharply decreased in size, turning into one and a half meter creatures. Being not very smart animals, these elephants became victims of floreciensis: those same cute meter-long hobbits exterminated them. Moreover, the stegodons were killed more than once: twice these elephants ended up on the island and were eaten twice.

Well, how can one not recall the main antagonist of Bilbo and the dwarves from “The Hobbit”, the dragon Smaug, on the confrontation with whom this work is actually based? In the world of the Flores, there was even a place for a dragon, and more than one. The role of the terrible reptile here was played by four-meter monitor lizards - predatory lizards, which clearly seemed unimaginably terrible monsters to the meter-long hobbits. It is quite obvious that such a meeting with homo floresiensis often ended with lunch for the lizard.

Death of the Hobbits

What else can connect real Homo floresiensis with Tolkien’s fictional hobbits? Here's what. Volcano! And if in “The Lord of the Rings” this was rather the goal of Frodo’s journey, the place where, after many trials, he still won, throwing the ring of omnipotence into the mouth of Orodruin, then with Homo floresiensis everything was much sadder. One of possible reasons Scientists believe that their extinction was caused by a volcanic eruption, since the layers where hobbit bones were found are covered by a layer of volcanic ash, and no hobbit bones were found above this layer.

However, there is another hypothesis, and it also fits well with The Lord of the Rings. Orcs are one of the main opponents of both hobbits and people; at the end of the work, in the chapter “The Defiled Hobbitation,” they capture the country of the halflings, organizing a targeted genocide, which is interrupted by the returning Frodo and his friends. In the book, the uprising raised by the hobbits turned out to be able to drive the enemies away. Everything in life was not so successful, and our ancestors - homo sapiens - played the role of orcs.

In addition to volcanic activity, the timing of the extinction of the hobbits on Flores very suspiciously coincides with the time of the appearance of sapiens in the region. And proximity to sapiens for many autochthonous species of people or animals always leads to the disappearance of the latter. This was the case with megafauna in Australia and America, with Neanderthals in Europe and Asia. And in the later layers on the island of Flores, bones and tools of modern people were found.

So it is quite possible that it was people who destroyed the last survivors of the volcanic problems, the Flora hobbits. Moreover, the current inhabitants of Flores, the Rampasas pygmies, recorded a curious legend back in the 19th century that when their ancestors came to the island, they met there shaggy little forest people who spoke a strange chirping language. At first, the pygmies made friends with them and called them ebu-gogo, which in their language meant “gluttonous grandmothers.” But when the Ebu-Gogo began to steal food and children from them, people killed them, and the latter were driven into a cave, covered with trees and burned. This is where the fairy tale ends.

These are the parallels that can be found between Tolkien’s fictional hobbits and the creatures that actually lived on the planet, our rather distant relatives. It's funny that when scientists told rampasas about the excavated hobbits, they immediately developed a legend that the little ebu-gogos were their ancestors. Reality and fantasy are again amazingly intertwined, and we have witnessed how right before our eyes a new layer of this modern myth is being created, in which there is Middle-earth, and hobbits, and real pygmies, and hominids that are tens of thousands of years old.

September 21 marked the 80th anniversary of one of the most amazing fairy tales that has become an integral part of English. cultural heritage. J. R. R. Tolkien is a favorite story of millions of children and adults around the world. These amazing creatures have become part of English folklore, just like gnomes in Germany or trolls in Scandinavia. A huge number of people do not even suspect that hobbits were simply invented by Tolkien, assuming that they burst into his works straight from the pages of ancient legends. Whether they've read Tolkien's books or watched Peter Jackson's films, anyone can recreate the typical hobbit look in their minds.

In the world created by the writer, they were humanoid creatures, ranging in size from two to four feet (1 ft -30.48 cm) in height, living in cozy burrows they dug. The owners of long fingers, well-fed and cheerful faces, curly brown hair and unusual, disproportionate to their height, large, coarse, hairy feet. Simple, unsophisticated and conservative people, as Tolkien emphasized. The excesses that they allowed themselves included a love of bright clothes and the obligatory six meals a day. Hobbits' special passion is the skill of smoking pipe tobacco, which they consider their contribution to the culture of the world. But where did hobbits come from, and were they solely Tolkien's creation?

The story of how the writer came up with the Hobbits is well known. Tolkien recalled how, in the 1930s, he was marking a student's examination papers and turning the page of one of them to find that he had "mercifully left the next one blank (what more pleasant thing could happen to an examiner?), and I had written on it: 'B There lived a hobbit in a hole in the ground." Names and titles always create a story in my imagination. Finally, I decided that I should learn more about what hobbits are.” However, careful research carried out after the death of the professor revealed that the designation “hobbits” preceded his creative development, although with a slightly different meaning. This designation appears only once in a publication called the Denham Tracts, a series of works on folklore dating from the 1840s. Hobbits appear in the second volume, in the list of supernatural beings, and are described as a type of spirit. It is safe to say that Tolkien read the Denham Tracts, but this fleeting mention of hobbits is unlikely to have become a source of inspiration for the professor, especially since Tolkien’s hobbits are not spirits. On the contrary, they are reverently attached to their land and to their own home. They are so material that there is either very little magic in them or no magic at all.

The writer's contemporaries suggested that hobbits are close to rabbits; at least, their names sound so similar ( Hobbit and rabbit) , but Tolkien good-naturedly rejected this suggestion. However, it had good reasons. So, the trolls who captured Bilbo call him a rabbit. The eagle carrying Bilbo also makes this comparison: “You should not be afraid like a rabbit, even if you look like him.” And Thorin shakes him like a rabbit. Rabbit - unusual word For in English. Unlike most other mammals, such as hares, weasels, badgers, otters or mice, they do not have an Old English or Old Norse equivalent name. The reason for this was the fact that rabbits appeared in England only in the 13th century. They were brought here to be bred for their fur, and later they infiltrated wildlife, becoming first familiar representatives of the English fauna, and then of English folklore.

On the other hand, hobbits are an extremely anachronistic people of Middle-earth. Tolkien emphasizes that the hobbit values ​​silence and grace most of all, so that there is less noise and more greenery. Nevertheless, Bilbo is easily discerned as an Englishman, and most likely from the Victorian era. His house is quite consistent with the house of a wealthy Englishman of that time, given the contents of the rooms, chests, closets and basements. In addition, Bilbo smokes a pipe, reads his morning letters over a cup of tea, and eats his characteristic meals at the same scheduled time every day. At first glance, he, like other hobbits, does not fit into the world of gnomes, elves, dragons, trolls, wizards and other inhabitants of Middle-earth. However, it is his anachronism and adherence to tradition that allows Bilbo, and later Frodo, to solve complex problems, making hobbits universal heroes. It is with hobbits that it is easiest for the average reader to associate himself with. Thanks to their versatility, they remain endlessly contemporary for any generation of readers. The controversy surrounding hobbits does not subside; research into their origin continues to this day. More and more new hypotheses are being put forward, and each has the right to exist, which, however, does not in any way affect our love for these amazing creatures.

Gnomes
Hobbits
Ents
Eagles
Orcs
Trolls
Dragons Other

Hobbit nations

In the preface to The Lord of the Rings, three ancient tribes of hobbits are mentioned, which later merged into a single nation:

• hairy legs(English) Harfoots) - darker and smaller than other hobbits. They preferred hills and hills. The author calls them “the most real, most correct hobbits,” the most conservative compared to other tribes. Typical representatives of the hairfoots are Samwise Gamgee, as well as Bilbo and Frodo Baggins (both on their father's side).
• grips(English) Stoors) - large-armed and strong, settled in river valleys and on the plains (presumably, Meriadoc Brandybuck, as well as Sméagol-Gollum and his brother Deagol, belonged to these).
• foresters(English) Fallohides) - light-skinned and tall (by hobbit standards), lived in forests (typical representatives are the Took family, including Peregrin Took, famous from the novel “The Lord of the Rings”).

Lifestyle

According to descriptions presented, in particular, in the prologue to the epic novel “The Lord of the Rings,” hobbits live sedentary in holes underground, or in houses on the surface. The holes of rich hobbits are very well appointed: the floor is tiled and carpeted, the walls are covered with panels. Doors and windows in burrows are usually round, the handles of such doors are located exactly in the middle, and the frames are painted in the yellow and yellow colors favored by hobbits. green colors(more detailed description hobbit dwelling is a description of the house of Bilbo Baggins). Hobbits do not have cities; they live in more or less large rural villages.

Hobbits are mainly engaged in agriculture. It is reliably known that they grow barley, tobacco, and grapes. They also grow other grains and vegetables. They brew good beer and produce the best varieties of pipe tobacco in Middle-earth. They do not like mechanical devices as such and do not make them, although they make carts, build mills and make various rural implements, as well as other things necessary for life. They build roads and bridges. They run taverns.

Hobbits love guests very much, and often the long corridors leading from front door deep into the hole, hung with hooks and shelves, lined with umbrella stands. Hobbits also love to eat, they can eat six times a day. They love to smoke pipes, like the author Tolkien, and refined tobacco smoking is revered among them as a special art. Hobbits are passionate about genealogy (however, this is practically the only science that interests them). They also love gardening and can work in their gardens for a long time. In a conversation with the son of the governor of Gondor, Faramir, the hobbit Frodo specifically mentions: “Gardeners are really held in high esteem by us”:

Hobbits love a calm and measured life, try to avoid dangerous adventures and almost never leave their homeland. The book “The Hobbit, or There and Back Again” quotes the words of Bilbo Baggins, which can rightfully be considered the unspoken leitmotif of any “correct” hobbit:

The social relations and hierarchy of hobbits cannot be called completely democratic: on the contrary, in their villages there are feudal lords and middle-level hobbits engaged in manual labor. Thus, Samwise Gamgee Frodo Baggins presents Faramir as “a worthy hobbit taken into his service”:

Sam himself addresses Frodo and Bilbo as “lord” and treats them as aristocrats, obviously superior to him intellectually, knowledgeable in literature, history and languages. Indeed, the Bagginses are typical “blue blood”: they own a rich estate, indulge in extravagance, do not engage in any physical labor, but are interested in linguistics, philology, history, literature:

First, Bilbo himself, and then Frodo, writes a chronicle book with an artistic slant. Bilbo independently teaches his nephew the Elvish language (which for the average hobbit is nonsense and a waste of time needed for more significant pressing matters). However, over the years, gaining the respect of his neighbors, Sam himself becomes the mayor and chronicler.

Hobbits in culture

The Russian folk rock band “The Hobbit Shire” wrote and performed a comic song “How the Hobbit Was Looking for Socks.”

Another Russian punk band, “The King and the Clown,” released the song “Hobbit Wine.”

• Tetramorium hobbit(ant)

Famous Hobbits

• Sméagol, aka Gollum

see also

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An excerpt characterizing the Hobbits

– You were looking for me - why? – Veya asked, looking carefully into my eyes.
Her gaze was also very unusual - as if, along with her gaze, she simultaneously conveyed images that I had never seen, and the meaning of which, unfortunately, I did not yet understand.
- Is that so? – the “star” baby asked, smiling.
Something “flashed” in my head... and a mind-blowing vision of something completely alien, but unusual, opened up. beautiful world... Apparently the one in which she once lived. This world was somewhat similar to the one we had already seen (which she created for herself on the “floors”), and yet, somehow it was a little different, as if there I was looking at a painted picture, and now I suddenly saw this picture in reality. ..
Above the emerald green, very “juicy” earth, illuminating everything around with an unusual bluish light, a stunningly beautiful and bright, violet-blue sun rose merrily... It was an alien, apparently alien, morning... All the greenery growing wildly here, from falling on her sun rays, sparkled with golden-violet diamonds of the “local” morning dew, and, happily washing themselves with them, prepared for the coming new wonderful day... Everything around was fragrant with incredibly rich colors, too bright for our eyes, accustomed to everything “earthly”. In the distance, almost “dense”, soft pink curly clouds, like beautiful pink pillows, swirled across the sky covered with a golden haze. Suddenly, on the opposite side, the sky flashed brightly golden.... I turned around and froze in surprise - on the other side, an incredibly huge, golden-pink, second sun rose royally!.. It was much larger than the first, and it seemed to be larger than itself planets... But its rays, unlike the first, for some reason shone incomparably softer and more affectionately, reminiscent of a warm “fluffy” hug... It seemed that this huge, kind luminary was already tired of everyday worries, but still, out of habit, gave this incredibly beautiful planet received its last warmth and, already “getting ready to retire,” gladly gave way to the young, “biting” sun, which was just beginning its celestial journey and was shining brightly and cheerfully, not afraid to splash its young heat, generously flooding everything around with light.
Looking around in surprise, I suddenly noticed a bizarre phenomenon - the plants had a second shadow... And for some reason it contrasted very sharply with the illuminated part - as if the chiaroscuro was painted with bright, flashy colors, sharply opposite to each other. In the shadow part, the air shimmered with bright miniature stars, flashing at the slightest movement. It was crazy beautiful... and incredibly interesting. The awakened magical world sounded with thousands of unfamiliar voices, as if joyfully announcing its happy awakening to the entire universe. I very strongly, almost in reality, felt how incredibly clean the air was here! It was fragrant, filled with surprisingly pleasant, unfamiliar smells, which were somehow subtly reminiscent of the smells of roses, if there were a thousand of them here different varieties simultaneously. Everywhere, as far as the eye could see, the same bright red, huge “poppies” were red... And only then did I remember that Veya had brought me the same flower! I extended my hand to her - the flower smoothly flowed from her fragile palm onto my palm, and suddenly, something strongly “clicked” in my chest... I was surprised to see how an amazing crystal... It pulsated and changed all the time, as if showing what else it could be. I froze in shock, completely hypnotized by the spectacle that opened, and could not take my eyes off the ever-new beauty that was opening up...
“Well,” Veya said contentedly, “now you can watch it whenever you want!”
– Why is this crystal on my chest if you put it on my forehead? – I finally decided to ask the question that had been tormenting me for several days.
The girl was very surprised, and after thinking a little, she answered:
“I don’t know why you’re asking, you know the answer.” But, if you want to hear it from me, please: I just gave it to you through your brain, but you need to open it where its real place should be.
- How was I supposed to know? – I was surprised.
Violet eyes studied me very carefully for several seconds, and then an unexpected answer came:
– I thought so – you’re still sleeping... But I can’t wake you up – others will wake you up. And it won't be now.
- And when? And who will these others be?..
– Your friends... But you don’t know them now.
- How will I know that they are friends, and that it is they? – I asked, puzzled.
“You’ll remember,” Veya smiled.
- Will I remember?! How can I remember something that doesn’t exist yet?..” I stared at her, dumbfounded.
- It exists, just not here.
She had a very warm smile that made her incredibly beautiful. It seemed as if the May sun had peeked out from behind a cloud and illuminated everything around.
– Are you all alone here on Earth? – I couldn’t believe it.
- Of course not. There are many of us, just different. And we've lived here for a very long time, if that's what you wanted to ask.
-What are you doing here? And why did you come here? – I couldn’t stop.
– We help when needed. I don’t remember where they came from, I wasn’t there. I was just watching how you are now... This is my home.
The girl suddenly became very sad. And I wanted to help her somehow, but, to my great regret, it was not yet in my little power...
– You really want to go home, don’t you? – I asked carefully.
Veya nodded. Suddenly her fragile figure flashed brightly... and I was left alone - the “star” girl disappeared. It was very, very dishonest!.. She couldn’t just up and leave!!! This should never have happened!.. The real resentment of a child, whose most favorite toy was suddenly taken away, was raging within me... But Veya was not a toy, and, to be honest, I should have been grateful to her for the fact that she actually came to me. But in my “suffering” soul at that moment a real “emotional storm” was destroying the remaining grains of logic, and complete confusion reigned in my head... Therefore, there was no talk of any “logical” thinking at the moment, and I, “dead,” grief” of her terrible loss, completely “plunged” into the ocean of “black despair”, thinking that my “star” guest would never return to me again... I wanted to ask her so much more! And she suddenly took it and disappeared... And then suddenly I felt very ashamed... If everyone asked her as much as I wanted to ask, she wouldn’t have time to live!.. This thought somehow immediately calmed me down. I should have simply accepted with gratitude all the wonderful things that she managed to show me (even if I didn’t understand everything yet), and not grumble at fate for the insufficiency of the desired “ready”, instead of just moving my lazy “convolutions” and to find the answers to the questions that tormented me. I remembered Stella’s grandmother and thought that she was absolutely right when she spoke about the dangers of receiving something for nothing, because nothing could be worse than a person who is used to only taking things all the time. Moreover, no matter how much he takes, he will never receive the joy of having achieved something himself, and will never experience the unique feeling of satisfaction of having created something himself.
I sat alone for a long time, slowly “chewing” the food for thought given to me, thinking gratefully about the amazing purple-eyed “star” girl. And she smiled, knowing that now I would definitely never stop until I found out who these friends are that I don’t know, and what kind of dream they should wake me up from... Then I couldn’t even imagine, that, no matter how hard I try, and no matter how hard I try, this will happen only after many, many years, and my “friends” will really wake me up... Only this will not be at all what I could ever imagine even guess...

Homo floresiensis is a possible dwarf fossil species of humans. They are also called “hobbits” by analogy with the creatures invented by J. R. R. Tolkien.

The remains of this species were first discovered in 2003 on the island of Flores in Indonesia by a joint Australian-Indonesian group of archaeologists looking for evidence of migration modern man from Asia to Australia. The group was led by Mike Morwood and Peter Brown. The researchers were not at all expecting the discovery of a new species and were surprised by the discovery of a well-preserved skeleton, which was designated LB1 (from the name of the Liang Bua cave in which it was found) and became the type specimen (holotype). It is believed to be the skeleton of a woman around 30 years of age. He was nicknamed "The Little Lady of Flores" or "Flo".

During subsequent excavations, 7 more skeletons were discovered, ranging in age from 38 to 13 thousand years. One of the discovered hand bones, attributed to Homo Flores, is about 74 thousand years old. The remains had not been petrified (fossilized) and had the consistency of “wet blotting paper” and had to be thoroughly dried before being removed from the ground. They have become the subject of intensive study in order to determine their species.

So what conclusion did the scientists come to?

Also found in the cave were many complex stone tools located in archaeological horizons ranging in age from 13 to 95 thousand years, suitable in size for people about 1 m tall.

The new species was announced on October 28, 2004 and was soon nicknamed the “hobbit” (after the fictional people in the book of the same name by J. Tolkien). The scientific name Homo hobbitus has even been proposed. The species was originally placed in its own genus and named Sundanthropus floresianus. However, after it became clear that the skull had human features, the creature was assigned to the genus Homo.
Homo flores stands out among all other extinct species of people for its dwarf size. The height of adult individuals only slightly exceeded 1 m. Thus, the approximate height of LB1 is 106 cm, LB8 (based on measurements of the tibia) is 109 cm. Such height is outside the normal range for a modern person and is noticeably less than average height adult representatives of the shortest living peoples.

Body weight was about 25 kg. This is noticeably smaller not only compared to modern humans, but also compared to Homo erectus, which some scientists consider to be its immediate ancestor. Moreover, H. floresiensis is even lighter than the australopithecines that lived several million years before it. That. it is the smallest and lightest hominid species discovered to date.

The brain volume was also small - LB1 had about 426 cm3, which is close to the brain volume of chimpanzees and australopithecines. The ratio of brain mass to body mass lies in the range between H. erectus and great apes. However, despite the total volume of the brain, which is almost four times smaller than that of modern humans, individual areas of the prefrontal cortex responsible for higher functions have a size comparable to that of modern humans.

The skeleton of H. floresiensis had features that confirm its independent species status. A study of the wrist bones showed that their structure is similar to the structure of the bones of chimpanzees or australopithecines, but differs from the structure of the bones of modern humans. Studies of the bones and joints of the arms and legs showed similar results. In particular, in modern humans, the upper head of the humerus is rotated relative to the plane of the elbow joint at an angle of 145-165 degrees. For Homo Flores, this angle was approximately 120 degrees. Combined with his relatively shorter collarbone and scapula shape, this caused his shoulders to move slightly forward, as if he were "shrugging". His feet were unusually flat and long compared to the size of his body. Such a structure forced them to bend their legs much more strongly when walking. knee joint and made H. floresiensis a very poor walker. The toes had unusual shape, and thumbs were very short.

Shortly after the discovery of H. floresiensis was announced, Indonesian anthropologist Teuku Jacob expressed doubt that the remains belonged to a new species. He suggested that this is a modern person with microcephaly. However, research conducted by paleoneurologist Dean Falk rejected this possibility. A CT scan of the skull, the results of which were published in 2005, did not find any evidence of defects in the formation of the skull and brain. Findings from a 2007 study provide further evidence for the absence of microcephaly. A comparative study was carried out on a virtual endocast of the LB1 skull, the brains of nine microcephalics and ten normal people. As a result, it was found that the shape of the LB1 skull is similar to the skull healthy person, however, has additional unique features that you would expect from a new species. Unlike microcephalians, the frontal and temporal lobes are well developed, but their structure differs from the structure of the corresponding lobes in modern humans.

The results of comparative studies by other authors, published in 2008-2009, also prove the inconsistency of the microcephaly hypothesis.

In June 2006, anatomist Gary Richards presented a new hypothesis, the essence of which is that the dwarf stature of Homo flores is explained by Laron syndrome, a hereditary disease in which tissues become insensitive to growth hormone. On next year A group of scientists, which included G. Richards, published a paper stating that the morphological features of H. floresiensis are not significantly different from people with Laron syndrome.

However, the document notes that the presence or absence of Laron syndrome can only be reliably determined through DNA testing, if it is possible at all. Critics of the hypothesis point out that, with the exception of short stature, people with Laron syndrome look different from Homo flores.
Endemic cretinism

In 2008, Australian researchers Peter Obendorf, Charles Oxnard and Ben Kefford proposed that LB1 and LB6 suffered from myxoedema endemic cretinism caused by congenital hypothyroidism and were part of the island's affected population. This disease is caused by various factors, including: iodine deficiency, and still occurs among the local Indonesian population.

People affected by this disease are born with a non-functioning thyroid gland, which results in small height and small brain size. However, their mental retardation and motor disorders are less pronounced than in cretins of neurological origin. According to the study authors, critical conditions environment formed on the island of Flores about 18 thousand years ago - during the time period to which the remains are dated. According to the authors, numerous features of the remains (such as an enlarged sella turcica, unusually straight and weakly twisted humeri, relatively thick limbs, double-rooted lower premolars, and primitive carpal morphology) can be explained by their hypothesis.

However, D. Falk objected that according to the results computed tomography The dimensions of the “Turkish saddle” are no larger than usual. Peter Brown noted to this that the “saddle turcica” was very poorly preserved and no significant conclusions could be drawn from its measurements.

In 2009, Colin Groves and Katharine Fitzgerald submitted a paper to the Australian Society of Human Biology comparing the Flores bones with those of ten patients with endemic cretinism. The study focused on the anatomical features characteristic of this disease. No similarities were found as a result of the study.
In 2012, Brown compared the skeletal and dental morphology of Homo flores and those with cretinism. He concluded that H. floresiensis is not a modern human suffering from the disease.

Existing evidence supports the hypothesis that Homo flores is the last descendant of early African human species, with which it shares many morphological features. This hypothesis provides a more plausible explanation for the characteristics of H. floresiensis compared to previously hypothesized genetic mutations and diseases.

However, none of the existing hypotheses can explain the full range of features found in a given species, nor why these features are so similar to those of disease.

In 2006, two groups of scientists simultaneously tried to extract DNA from a tooth found in 2003, but both failed. Possible reasons for failure include extraction of DNA from dentin (while dental cement has a higher DNA content) and too high a drilling speed, which could lead to DNA degradation due to heat.

In early December 2004, T. Jacob removed most of the remains from storage at the National Archeology Research Center in Jakarta with the permission of only one of the project leaders, and hid them for 3 months. Some scientists have expressed concern that important scientific evidence will be appropriated by a small group of researchers who will neither allow other scientists to see it nor publish the results of their own research. Jacob returned the remains on February 23, 2005, but to the horror of his colleagues, some of them were seriously damaged, and 2 leg bones were completely missing.

Jacob denied any wrongdoing, claiming that the damage was caused during transport from Yogyakarta to Jakarta. However, according to the reports of other scientists, the nature of the damage is completely different - physical evidence indicates the destruction of the samples during the manufacture of castings. For example, one of the jaws was broken and then glued together, with the pieces assembled at the wrong angle.

In 2005, Indonesian authorities closed access to the cave. Some media outlets (eg the BBC) have speculated that the reason for this ban was an attempt to protect Jacob, who was hailed as the "Indonesian king of paleoanthropology", from evidence that he was wrong. Access to the cave was allowed again in 2007, shortly after Jacob's death.

Already in 2013, American scientists who created a model of the body of Homo floresiensis refuted the hypothesis that the remains of Homo floresiensis correspond to the remains of a modern person who suffered from microcephaly.

“I find it hard to believe that evolutionary changes could result in a less economical mode of transportation,” study participant William Jungers responds to opponents.

As you know, it is beneficial for an animal that moves on two limbs to have long legs. We believe that the short bones of Homo flores are primitive features preserved from ancient times." Full version The scientists' report was published in the journal Significance.

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