'Hobbit' species made their own tools, scientists say

The dwarf species of "Hobbits"that survived on a remote Indonesian island were able to build stone tools despite their small brains, say the scientists who first discovered the intriguing species, rebutting doubters.

The species, Homo floresiensis, lived in a cave on the island of Flores until 12,000 years ago. Bones of at least nine individuals were found in sediments dating to around 18,000 years ago.

The adults were about three feet tall with brains the size of a grapefruit, Mike Morwood, of the University of New England in Australia first said in 2003.

A cache of tools were found near the Liang Bua cave, along with butchered animals, including a species of miniature elephant that is now extinct.

Some paleontologists have argued these tinyhominids wouldn't have had the brainpower to make such tools, and that modern humans must have crafted them.

Now Morwood and his colleagues are defending their research, saying the toolscame downfrom an older tradition.

"The authenticity of the Soa Basin artifacts and their provenance have been demonstrated by previous work, but to quell lingering doubts, here we describe the context, attributes and production modes of 507 artifacts excavated at Mata Menge," they wrote in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.

"We also note specific similarities, and apparent technological continuity, between the Mata Menge stone artifacts and those excavated from Late Pleistocene levels at Liang Bua cave, 50 kilometresto the west."

These older tools date back more than 800,000 years, but the flint blades appear to have been made the same way.

The findings suggest H. floresiensis likely inherited toolmaking skills from their ancestors, the researchers said.

Saying H. floresiensis lacked the brain size needed to make stone tools is based on preconceptions rather than evidence, they note.

Whether H. floresiensis represents a new species of hominid, or a dwarf strain of early humans, continues to spark debate among scientists.