Rampasasa pygmies is a name given to a group of families described as pygmoid or Negrito, native to Waemulu Village in Wae Rii District, Manggarai Regency, Flores, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, following the discovery of Homo floresiensis in the nearby Liang Bua cave in 2003.[1][2]
The Rampasasa have since been reported as claiming Homo floresiensis as their ancestor and as "cashing in on hobbit craze".[3]
A genetic study published in 2018 discounted the possibility of the Rampasasa descending from H. floresiensis, concluding that 'multiple independent instances of hominin insular dwarfism occurred on Flores'. However, as no genetic material from H. floresiensis was included in the analyses, any truly definitive conclusions cannot be made.[4]
References
[edit]- ^ Forth, Gregory (2008). Images of the Wildman in Southeast Asia: An Anthropological Perspective. Routledge. p. 432. ISBN 9781135784294. Retrieved 11 September 2025.
- ^ Henneberg, Maciej; Eckhardt, Robert B.; Schofield, John (2016). The Hobbit Trap: How New Species Are Invented. Routledge. p. 87. ISBN 9781315418285. Retrieved 11 September 2025.
- ^ Casey, Michael (3 September 2010). "Indonesian villages cashing in on 'hobbit' craze". NBCNews.com. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 27 July 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2025.
- ^ Tucci, Serena; Vohr, Samuel H.; McCoy, Rajiv C.; Vernot, Benjamin; Robinson, Matthew R.; et al. (3 August 2018). "Evolutionary history and adaptation of a human pygmy population of Flores Island, Indonesia". Science. 361 (6401): 511–516. doi:10.1126/science.aar8486. PMC 6709593.
- Goldenberg, Linda (2007). Little People and a Lost World: An Anthropological Mystery. Twenty-First Century Books. p. 90ff. ISBN 9780822559832. Retrieved 11 September 2025.
External links
[edit]- John Noble Wilford (August 22, 2006). "Report Reignites Feud Over 'Little People of Flores'". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
- ""Hobbits" Were Pygmy Ancestors, Not New Species, Study Says". National Geographic. National Geographic Society. August 21, 2006. Archived from the original on November 18, 2006. Retrieved 20 May 2017.